


Nineteen Years Later

by LoveStoryFanatic



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Reunions, Surfing, Surprises, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-17
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2017-12-12 02:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/806074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveStoryFanatic/pseuds/LoveStoryFanatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: John Sheppard and Dean Winchester were once best friends. One night, all that changes as Dean is forced down one path and John down another. What happens when the two men meet again after nearly twenty years have passed? Can they get back what they used to have or has it been too long? Are they just too different? What happens when their worlds collide and everything changes forever?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Past and The Present

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first crossover, keep in mind. I am in love with both series and thought I should just combine the two. That being said, here's something to keep in mind as well: The SPN parts were written BEFORE the season 8 finale that was aired last night. So, don't relate the two. Also, not everything in the past has happened.  
> Like, Carson Beckett is not a clone. He is on Atlantis and it's the real him. Also, Elizabeth Weir is still there. None of that happened. I'm not sure if I'm going to have Keller in there or not. I love her, but there's so many characters already...we'll just have to wait and see.

It was the end of their junior year of high school. John Sheppard and Dean Winchester were best friends, inseparable. If you saw one, chances were the other was somewhere nearby. Everything was as normal as it could be. Dean’s father was a mechanic at the local shop downtown and his mother owned her own bakery; she made the best apple pie around. Dean’s little brother Sammy followed them everywhere. He was only a kid, having just completed seventh grade.

John had a more abnormal family. His mother had died when he was nine, something he was still reeling from. His father owned his own business as well as Mary, but unlike Mary, he was never home. He was always away on business and when he was home…let’s just say he didn’t qualify for the father of the year award. John’s big brother David was exactly like their father. He always had his nose turned up and bragged about taking over the company one day.

Dave went to private school, they could certainly afford it, whereas John refused and demanded he be sent to public school. And that’s how the two boys met.

They had finished their finals and were celebrating the first day of summer.

Dean had asked John to come over to his house later that night. They were going to play video games and also…Dean needed to talk to him about something.

John pulled up outside of the Winchester’s two-story house to find it on fire. He jumped out of the car and ran across the front lawn as Dean helped his father out of the house. The man had too much smoke in his lungs. John took Dean’s father from him so that Dean could go back for Sammy. John pulled out his cell phone and called 911 as he helped the older man get across the lawn and away from the burning house.

A few minutes later, Dean reappeared with an unconscious Sammy in his arms. He’d been hit by a collapsing beam and knocked unconscious. Dean set him down by their father, but as he turned back to go back for his mother, Mary, all they could do was watch as the house collapsed.

Dean yelled in agony as he practically watched his mother’s life ending. He surged forward to try to go back, but John stopped him. He held Dean back, making sure he didn’t do anything stupid. And then he held his friend as silent tears rolled down his face as realization sunk in that he was now without a mother.

The fire trucks and ambulances arrived and quickly set about putting out the fire and checking on those who had made it out of the house. John explained to the cops that Mary Winchester hadn’t made it out alive. She had been the only casualty. He gave his statement and quickly returned to Dean’s side where he stayed for the next several days.

He insisted that the three of them stay at his house. His father wasn’t home and if he was, he wouldn’t mind. He would call his father and let him know the situation, tell him everything that had happened. He knew that even with Patrick’s black heart, he would still understand.

John stayed by his best friend’s side for days. He’d watched as Dean withdrew in on himself, becoming a hollow version of his best friend. He didn’t know what to do for Dean but give him time. He remembered being the same way when his own mother had died.

A few days after the fire, it was time for the funeral. The day they buried an empty casket as they couldn’t find any remains. Dean cried silently throughout the funeral, but he refused to give in to the weakness. He knew he had to be strong for his father and little brother. John was allowed to sit next to Dean on the front pew as he was practically family. Also, everyone knew that both of the Winchester boys would benefit from the presence of the Sheppard.

Later on that day, the elder Winchester announced they’d be moving into a motel room across town. He didn’t feel right staying at the Sheppard’s large house and so he moved his family elsewhere.

That was the last time John Sheppard saw Dean.

They made plans to hang out the next day, but when he showed up at the motel, their room was empty and the 1967 Chevy Impala the Winchester’s cherished was gone. He continuously tried their cell phones, all three of them, but they were all disconnected. The Winchester’s had simply disappeared into the night.

John waited all summer for his friend to come back or even to hear anything from him. But neither happened. His father got worse, if that was possible. He would blame John for Dean’s disappearance, saying he scared him off.

The first day of school arrived and John was miserable. All throughout his first day of senior year, he had to endure question after question about the location of his friend. All he could do was simply shake his head and walk away.

After school that day, he drove over to one of the military recruitment offices and signed up for the Air Force. That was his ticket out of town, away from all the questions, away from his father, away from everything that would remind him of the best friend he’d lost. All he had to do was endure his last year of high school, and he was free.

**_Nineteen years later…_ **

“Colonel Sheppard, this is Dr. Weir. Please respond.”

John was sitting at their usual table in the mess hall with his team as he heard his com go off. He reached up and hit it. “This is Sheppard. What is it, Elizabeth?”

Teyla Emmagen-Sheppard smiled as John responded to the call. He rarely got the opportunity to eat a meal without getting a call. Ronon Dex and Dr. Rodney McKay both snorted, thinking the same thing Teyla was: John never got a break.

“When you get a moment, I’d like to speak to you in my office.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in about half an hour. Sheppard out.”

He picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip. He looked around the table as his friends watched him. “What?”

Teyla smiled sweetly at him. “Do you not have to go this time?”

He smirked as he dug into his sandwich. “Nope. Just gotta be in Elizabeth’s office in half an hour.”

They continued to eat their lunch in peace, talking about the latest mission they went on together. They used up all of the time they had before Sheppard had to leave. Before he stood, he gave Teyla a quick peck on the lips, smiled and stood up. “I’ll pick up TJ after the meeting. There’s nothing exciting happening, so we’ll spend some quality time together.”

Teyla nodded, liking the idea of her husband and their son spending more time together. “That is a great idea, John. I will see you tonight.”

He nodded at his team and left the mess hall. It didn’t take long to get up to the control room, across the walk, and into Elizabeth’s office.

“You wanted to see me?” Elizabeth looked up from her laptop and smiled, waving towards one of the chairs sitting across from her desk.

“Yes, John. Please, have a seat.”

He sat down heavily and looked up at her curiously, waiting for her to tell him the reason she’d asked him to be there.

“I was just talking to Dr. Heightmeyer not too long ago. She reminded me that you and your team haven’t had any kind of leave in a while. She suggested that the five of you take a trip back to Earth for a while. And frankly? I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.”

John couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He might actually get a break from everything. Sure, he loved Atlantis. Atlantis was his home, but sometimes you just need a break.

“For how long?”

“Well, I was thinking two, maybe three weeks. You’ll be going through the Stargate, so you don’t have to worry about the time it takes to travel on the Daedalus. What do you say, John?”

He sat in amazement for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah, um…when do we leave?”

A grin spread across Elizabeth’s face. “In three hours, so you might wanna let the rest of your team know and get any matters settled if you have any. I assume you’ll need to talk to Major Lorne about military issues before you leave.”

He nodded, already running through everything he would need to get done in the short amount of time they had.

“Better hurry. You don’t have much time. Oh, and John? Have fun. And…try not to get into too much trouble.”

John smirked as he stood and left the room, giving no promises. He quickly made his way to the quarters of the woman who looked after Torren while both himself and Teyla were busy. He picked him up and went straight for his office.

On his way there, he radioed for Lorne to meet him there as soon as he could and then radioed Teyla.

“Teyla, this is Sheppard. Come in.”

“John, is something wrong?”

He smiled to himself. She had started to worry more after TJ had been born. “Nah, everything’s fine. Better than fine actually. I need you to do me a favor. Could you let Rodney and Ronon know that there’s going to be a team meeting in my office in…half an hour.”

There was a pause, as she seemed to think through the possibilities of why they were meeting in his office. “That is fine. I am with Ronon now and I will radio Rodney. Did you pick up Torren?”

“Yep, got my little buddy with me now. We’ll see you in half an hour. Sheppard out.”

He walked into his office and sat Torren down on the ground. He already had a blanket spread out on the ground behind his desk with some of TJ’s favorite toys. John would often bring him back to his office with him, so he made sure he was always prepared. Torren busied himself with stacking some blocks just to knock them down again. John would always chuckle when he watched his son do that. Of course, he always found his one-year-old son amusing.

The chime on his office rang and he mentally opened the door. Lorne walked through and moved closer to his desk. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Yes, it seems my team and I are going on a last minute vacation. Elizabeth just told me and we leave in….just under three hours. I wanted to run through some things with you before I leave.”

“Yes, sir.”

They went over different plans. John made him aware of every team that was currently off-world and ones that were due to be off-world in the coming days or hours. He went through every last detail that the major would need to know.

The door slid open before they were finished and both men looked up from some papers to see John’s team walk in. He smiled when he saw them and held up a finger. “Just one moment.”

He turned back to Lorne to finish up their conversation. “Okay, so Sergeant Stackhouse’s team is due back in about four hours. He was in charge of some science team, so there shouldn’t be any problems. I got about half of the paperwork done that’s due in the next week. Sorry about that, I was planning on doing it after my meeting with Elizabeth. Um…I think that’s about it.”

Lorne smiled and nodded. “Don’t worry about anything, sir. I’ll make sure she’s still in working order when you get back.”

John nodded, still worried about leaving Atlantis for too long. “Yeah. Like I said earlier, if there are any problems, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll only be a dial and a phone call away.”

Lorne chuckled as he stood and moved towards the door. “Yes, sir. Just try to relax and not get into too much trouble while you’re gone. I mean, I don’t mind makin’ a trip back, but I’d rather it be under happier circumstances. Have a safe trip, sir.”

John chuckled as he sat back in his seat. “Thanks, Major. I’ll try my best.” As Lorne left, Teyla looked at John questioningly.

“Are you leaving, John?” He smiled at her and nodded.

“Actually, _we’re_ leaving. As in the four of us. Well, five. It seems Elizabeth and Dr. Heightmeyer conspired against us and are sending us back to Earth on leave. We’ll be gone two to three weeks.”

Rodney’s eyes widened as a huge grin spread across Ronon’s face. “We’re going to Earth? Awesome. When do we leave, Shep?”

He smirked at Ronon’s excitement. “We leave in two and a half hours. That’s why I wanted the three of you to come here so we can just have the conversation once and not keep repeating it. Pack enough for a couple of weeks, and I advise you leave room for souvenirs as I’m assuming you’ll want to buy stuff while we’re there. And be thinking about places you wanna go. The SGC will have a rental car waiting, I’ve already confirmed it with Elizabeth, and we’ll be leaving for a hotel for the night. We can decide where to go from there. General O’Neill has already made us hotel reservations apparently so…that’s where we’re going first. Any questions?”

Rodney stuttered, his mind going a mile a minute and his mouth was trying to keep up. “Whoah, whoah, wait a minute there, Sheppard. Wha-What about the projects I have going on? Or..Or the missions we’re scheduled for. There are some really cool discoveries out there and and and I was excited for that! We can’t just just just _leave._ Not now. I mean…I have to pack and make sure Zalenka doesn’t screw anything up while I’m gone. I’m a really important person, you know. I-I-I…I just can’t pick up and leave on a moment’s notice!”

“Well, Rodney, that’s why I didn’t give you a moment’s notice. You have a two and a half _hour_ notice. That should be plenty of time for you to yell at Radek, pack up some clothes, and be ready to go. Now, I suggest you go start getting ready because you _are_ going. There’s no getting out of it, and we’re leaving on time. I’ll make sure of it. Now go.”

Rodney glared at John, but flew out of the room in a frenzy. He was muttering to himself about everything he had to do before he left, trying not to leave anything out.

Ronon was practically bouncing on his balls of his feet. “So it’s just going to be the four of us and McKay? Can I bring my blaster?”

Sheppard rolled his eyes. “No, it’ll stand out too much on Earth. We don’t have weapons like that so you can either leave it in your quarters or leave it at the SGC where they’ll probably run tests on it or something when they get bored.”

Ronon winced. “Yeah, I think I’ll leave it in my quarters. I’m gonna go get ready. I’ll see you three later.”

They watched him leave and then John turned to Teyla. “So, what do you think?”

Teyla walked around the desk and sat down on John’s lap. “I think that it is just what the team needs. As well as this family. I don’t know about you, John, but I could certainly use a vacation.”

John smiled as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. “I know exactly what you mean. So, how about we get going. We have to pack enough for three people, toys included. Not too many toys though, because we’ll definitely be stopping at a toy store at some point. I’m determined to spoil him on this trip.”

They went back to their shared quarters and packed enough for the three of them for a couple of weeks. It ended up being a lot of stuff, mainly Torren’s. John didn’t need that much since he was used to packing light with being in the military. He packed so lightly that he and Teyla were able to share a bag. Torren got a whole bag to himself.

They made their way to the gate room, Torren in John’s arms as he carried Torren’s bag and Teyla carried theirs. They found Ronon already waiting there. All they were waiting on was Rodney.

They set the bags down and John looked at his watch. The scientist had two minutes left until John was going to track him down.

With about fifteen seconds left on John’s watch, they heard the familiar ranting of Dr. Rodney McKay as he argued with Dr. Radek Zalenka over having no one touch anything in his lab while he was gone.

Finally, they were ready to go.

Elizabeth met them in the gate room and said her goodbyes. “I will see the five of you in a couple of weeks. And remember, John, don’t get into too much trouble.”

He rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

Elizabeth smiled as she walked up to the control room and gave the order to dial the gate. The gate whooshed into place.

They picked up their bags and made their way towards the gate. Right as they went through, John looked back over his shoulder, taking one more glace at his beautiful city, sending a smile up towards Elizabeth, and stepped through the gate.

**SPN**

_“Castiel, don’t do this. Don’t you dare complete this. You’re making a big mistake.”_

_Cas narrowed his eyes at Naomi and took a step closer. “I don’t think I am, Naomi. I think you are the one who is making the big mistake. I am simply doing what is best for the world.”_

_“Oh really? And what might that be, Castiel? Ridding the world of angels? That doesn’t seem like a very good idea.”_

_Cas took another step forward, lowering his voice even further. “On the contrary, I am ridding the world of_ you. _And that will always be best.”_

_There was a bright flash of light, so bright the angels who had gathered around shielded their eyes. Cas’ voice was heard though none could see him._

_“If any of you wish to remain on Earth, I advise you Fall. Now. The gates of Heaven will now forever be closed.”_

_As if on cue, the sound of rusted metal was heard scraping together. The angels started to panic and some chose to Fall to Earth. They didn’t want to be a part of Naomi’s team any longer. There were many who hadn’t backed down though and remained at her side._

_“Castiel, stop! This is traitorous of you. I am willing to overlook the monstrosity of being with a human romantically, but you must end this now. You must fight for Heaven once more. This is not what was meant to be.”_

_Cas smirked the way he’d seen Dean do plenty of times before. “There is no ‘meant to be’ any longer. There is no fate, no destiny. This is the era of free will. And as long as you’re around, there will not be any. So, in the words of a very dear friend, bite me, Naomi.”_

_He turned to leave, but suddenly looked back at her. “I would say…it was nice knowing you, but I would be lying. Goodbye, Naomi, brothers, sisters. You will have a long time to think about what has happened. Maybe in the next thousand years you’ll be able to understand why I must do this.”_

_There was a loud bang, loud enough to be an explosion, as the gates of Heaven closed and locked forever. Cas took one more step and was suddenly falling through the sky, spiraling towards Earth. It all happened very fast and very slow all at once._

_Cas felt every sensation as he rocketed towards the ground and watched as it came closer and closer, threatening to swallow him hole. He would have feared it would if the gates of Hell hadn’t officially been sealed as well._

_Pain erupted throughout his body as his wings were slowly being ripped from his shoulders. He could feel every muscle snapping, every tendon jerk from their rightful places, every blood vessel surrounding the area swell and explode into showers of red. A monstrous howl of pain erupted from his throat as his body shook horribly._

_It was the worst kind of pain imaginable, the kind of pain every fallen angel must endure as their wings are ripped from their bodies, leaving them broken and bloody._

_He could feel his tan trench coat soaking up his blood, but knew it wouldn’t be enough. He would have to receive medical attention once he was back on Earth._

_He pried his eyes open against the pain, only being able to tolerate it due to the thoughts and images of Dean that were flying through his mind: Dean’s smile, Dean’s laugh, Dean’s utter and complete selflessness when it came to his family and someone in need. He thought about the way Dean held him, with the love and care he didn’t think he deserved after all he’d done._

_That was why they were perfect for each other. Neither thought they deserved the other, but did all they could to convince the one they loved that they were worth it. It was a never-ending cycle that inevitably fueled the love the two men had for each other._

_“Dean…”_

_Cas watched as the ground still came closer and closer until everything went dark and the pain finally ceased._

Dean woke from the dream drenched in sweat. He had watched the entire scene unfold as Cas defied Naomi once more, closed the gates of Heaven, and Fell to Earth. He had felt every blood vessel connected to his wings burst, every burst of pain shooting through his body, he had felt the blood running down his back, he had felt everything. The strangled sound of his name being whipped from Cas’s lips echoed inside his mind.

Dean struggled to catch his breath as he hurriedly climbed out of bed and went to find Sam. He had to let his little brother know that at least Cas was successful at sealing off Heaven. He swiped his cell phone off the nightstand table as he pulled on his robe and rushed out of the room.

He found Sam asleep at the dining room table surrounded in books. He’d been trying to catch up on some of the information that the Men of Letters had left behind.

“Sammy! Wake up!”

Sam jerked awake and rubbed sleep from his eyes as he looked up at Dean. When he noticed the worried expression on his older brother’s face, he sat up immediately on hyper alert.

“What is it? What happened? Have you heard anything from Cas?”

Dean shook his head, wondering what all he should tell his little brother, but then decided on all of it. “Kind of…You remember the last time Cas fell and I had a dream about it? And then the next day he called saying he was at the hospital and found a way back to Bobby’s?”

Sam scrunched his eyebrows together and nodded slowly. “Yeah…I remember.”

“Well, I just had a dream. Cas closed the gates of Heaven and he Fell. He did it.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open. He’d had every confidence that Cas would be able to close the gates, but since they hadn’t heard anything yet, he’d started to worry as had Dean.

“That’s great! Well, not about the Falling part, but he did it! Did you see where he landed?”

Dean shook his head sadly and looked down at his phone, practically willing it to ring and let him know where the man he loved was. “No, I didn’t. He blacked out before anything recognizable could be seen. I…this dream was different then the last one. The last time it was like I was merely a bystander, watching from outside of the situation. This time…”

He shook his head, trying to remember everything that had happened, every detail. Sam leaned towards Dean slightly, but gave him his space. “What happened, Dean?”

“It was like…like I was Cas, but…I wasn’t. I could feel everything he was feeling, but I was watching it. I wasn’t seeing through his eyes, but it was like I was right next to him instead of away from what was happening.”

Sam thought about it for a moment. “I’ll look through some books, see if there’s anything here about it, but…my best guess would be that it’s because the two of you are a lot closer than you were a couple of years ago when he Fell the first time. You know each other inside and out now, so the ‘profound bond’ has probably strengthened and it allowed you to be closer to what was going on, letting you actually feel what he was feeling. That’s really interesting…Do you think he’s alright? Did it seem like he was seriously injured or anything?”

Dean put on his best bitchface, the one he saw Sam wear at least once a day. “He just Fell from Heaven, Sam. His wings were ripped from his back. Of course he’s seriously injured!”

Sam pursed his lips together, refraining from making a snarky comment because he knew how worried Dean was.

“Okay. Well, we’ll find him. I’ll start doing searches online and see if anything comes up on news channels, anything about falling meteors from the sky crash landing or something.”

Dean nodded and looked at his watch. It was too late to go back to bed, though even if he tried he’d never be able to sleep with Cas still out there somewhere injured.

He sighed and decided to go take a shower, maybe it would clear his mind for a while. Then he’d run some errands, fill up their fridge and pantry. He would do everything possible to keep his mind preoccupied as they waited for Cas to call.

**Three days later…**

“Dean! I thought you said you were making breakfast!”

Dean appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room where Sam was surfing the internet, looking for any trace of demonic activity as well as any signs of Cas.

“Keep your panties on, Sammy. It’ll be done in a few minutes. How’s it comin’ with the search? Find anything?”

Sam sighed as he scrolled through another page. “Nothing. It seems that it was successful. I found a couple of cases, but they were real minor and with hunters nearby. I let them know and they’re on it. As far as Cas goes…there haven’t been any reports yet. I just widened the search to see if that gives me anything.”

Dean grunted. “Well, I should hope it was successful. You closed the damn gates of Hell. What if no one saw him land? I mean…it was nighttime when he Fell, that much I could tell. Maybe no one was watching.”

Sam finally pried his eyes away from his computer screen and looked worriedly over at Dean who tried to hide his own worry, but was unsuccessful.

“It’s a possibility. Maybe….maybe you should try calling for him? I mean…He always comes for you. If he can hear you, he would call.”

Dean rolled his eyes and snorted. “Well, I should hope he comes for me, he’s my damn boyfriend, Sam. But no…I’ve tried. His grace must be completely gone already. That or he’s unconscious still.”

Before Sam could say anything, Dean disappeared into the kitchen to finish cooking breakfast, signaling an end to the conversation.

Sam sighed, exhausted. It’d been three days since Dean had had the dream about Cas. They hadn’t heard a word from him yet.

He’d watched as Dean had gotten more worried as the days went by. The two had been together for longer than Sam could remember. Of course, they’d hidden their relationship at first since Dean was a private man, but Sam had been able to tell right off the bat that their relationship had moved on to the next level.

He’d waited until Dean had been comfortable enough to tell him and then reassured him that he was perfectly okay with it. He’d known since they were both kids that Dean was gay. When they’d met Cas, he knew it would be just a matter of time before they made it official.

After a few minutes, Dean appeared back in the dining room with two plates piled with food and two cups of coffee on a tray. They ate their breakfast in silence before Dean got up to get ready for the day.

They spent most of the day in the bunker. Dean would switch between pacing and watching a movie, trying and failing to preoccupy his mind. He had finally slipped into a restless sleep when his phone suddenly went off, startling him awake.

He pulled it out of his pocket in a hurry, already knowing who would be calling him.

“Cas? Cas, where are you?”

“Dean. I am in Long Beach, California in the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. I need you to come get me.”

“In the hospital? Why the hell are you in the hospital?!” Sam appeared in the entrance to their makeshift living room. He’d heard Dean’s frantic voice when he’d answered his phone and knew it was Cas who’d called.

“I Fell, Dean. I will see you soon.”

The line went dead before Dean could say anything else. He stared at his phone for a moment before jumping up and searching frantically for his keys.

“Cas is in the hospital in Long Beach. He needs us to come get him. Where the hell are my keys?!”

Sam ran from the living room and into the dining room where he’d last seen them. “Dean! In here!”

Dean swiped the keys from the table, grabbed his jacket, and was out the door with Sam right behind him and on his way to get his fallen angel.

**SGA**

“This is our hotel?” John looked around the lobby and nodded.

“Yep, General O’Neill booked the top suite for us, so we’ll all be together. It’s going to be like that at every hotel we go to if we can manage it. I’d prefer us being as close as possible so nothing happens.”

Rodney grunted as he set down his bag. “Okay, lead the way then, Colonel. I just want to put my bags down and then go get food. When are we going for supper?”

John rolled his eyes as he walked towards the elevators on the other side of the lobby. He still had a hold on Torren and one of the bags so he set down the bag to press the up button. “We’ll get settled into the room and then we’ll decide where to go. We wouldn’t want you to starve, now would we?”

Rodney rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet for once. All that was heard from him were the semi-quiet rumblings from his stomach.

They made it into their room and John designated where each of them would be staying. John, Teyla, and Torren got the master bedroom considering there were three of them and he pointed to the two smaller rooms for Rodney and Ronon.

There was a small kitchenette as well as a living room and small dining room. Teyla looked around the room in awe. “I have never seen a room such as this. It is very…extravagant.”

John smiled and walked towards their room so he could set down the bag he was carrying. He laid down on the bed with a sleeping Torren in his arms and closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the softness of the mattress beneath him.

He felt the bed shift slightly as someone laid next to him and then a hand softly comb through his messy hair. He opened his eyes to find Teyla smiling at him.

“What?”

She shook her head, her smile growing. “Nothing, John. I am just loving watching you with our son as I always do. Do you wish to take a nap before we go to supper? You seem exhausted.”

He chuckled, accidentally waking up Torren, and shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Besides, if we don’t get some food in Rodney soon, he may actually faint from ‘manly hunger’.”

Teyla laughed softly as she remembered the time when Rodney had worn a personal shield that hadn’t allowed him to eat or drink anything while he wore it.

Torren lifted his head and looked up at his dad. His lip started to tremble as he was getting hungry as well. “Alright, buddy. I gotcha. Let’s go get you and Uncle Rodney something to eat.”

He reluctantly stood up from the comfortable bed and made his way out into the living room with Teyla right behind him.

Ronon was inspecting the mini fridge as Rodney looked through a couple of cabinets. “Okay, let’s go. Where do you want to eat? We can just go downstairs to the restaurant here in the hotel.”

Ronon nodded, “Sounds like a plan. I’m starving. Do they have beer?”

John chuckled and nodded, “Yeah, probably. I’ll get you a beer, buddy. Might have one for myself as well.”

They headed down to the restaurant and got a table pretty easily. The restaurant was reserved for guests and they continuously reserved a table towards the back for anyone occupying the suite.

They ordered their food and made small talk while they waited for it to arrive.

“So, while we’re waiting…how about we discuss where we’ll be going next. If none of you mind, I’d prefer if we get out of here tomorrow morning, get a kick start on this vacation.”

Ronon grunted, signaling that he agreed with the Colonel, making John smirk. One vote down, two more to go.

“That is fine with me, John. I do not care where we go. I am just excited to see your planet.”

“Yeah, same here. I would like to go surfing sometime though. Those waves we caught on the last alpha site were fun.”

John’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile as he imagined him and Ronon going surfing again. “Okay! It’s settled then! We’ll go to…Long Beach first thing in the morning.”

Rodney groaned, already dreading being on the beach for hours while the two surfed. He knew that he would inevitably get sun burnt. “Okay, but on one condition. We have to stop somewhere and buy buckets of sun block before we go. I am not going back to Atlantis looking like a tomato.”

John laughed genuinely at the image of a very red Rodney McKay walking through the halls of Atlantis. “I think that can be arranged, Rodney. Although, it would be entertaining watching you walk around looking like you got baked.”

They went about the rest of their night, enjoying their dinner and not having all the responsibilities of being back on Atlantis.

Within the next two days, they made their journey to Long Beach, California where they would officially start their vacation and relaxation.

It took them a day and a half to make it to their destination and get checked into their hotel. Again, they had a suite where all of them could be together and not worry about separate rooms. Once they got settled in at the hotel, they freshened up a bit, and then went straight for the beach.

Of course, John and Ronon had to buy surf  boards and the rest of the gear they would need, as well we sun block for Rodney and some beach towels for them all.

Teyla decided that it would be best to build sand castles with Torren on the beach while John and Ronon surfed and Rodney flipped through data reports from Atlantis on his data pad.

Occasionally, Teyla would look out at the ocean to see if she could spot the men and watch them for a few minutes before turning back to her son. She had watched as they both had taken turns falling into the water from the waves. She would chuckle to herself before helping Torren with their sand castle.

By six o’clock, they were all ready to head back to the hotel, freshen up, and then get some supper. John had heard about a festival that was happening in town and thought they could check it out.

So, that’s exactly what they did. As soon as they had eaten supper and were content, they left the restaurant they had found and walked down a couple of blocks to the festival. Before they reached it, John suddenly stopped and looked around curiously.

The rest of the group stopped and looked back at him. Ronon’s brow furrowed, knowing the look that was on John’s face. They all did. It was the look he got when his spidey senses were tingling as Rodney would say.

“Shep? What’s up?” John narrowed his eyes and continued to look around.

“I don’t know, buddy. Something’s just…off.”

They knew that John had to investigate. Whenever he shrugged off the feeling and ignored it, nothing good ever came from it.

He backed up a couple of steps and turned to look down the alleyway they had just passed. He spotted a man a little ways in. John watched him to see if he was going to cause any trouble, but then he got a better look at him.

He was tall, but not as tall as he was. He had black, messy hair and was wearing a tan trench coat…or was it red?

That’s when he saw the cuts on his face and hands and the blood running from a gash on his temple. He was staggering towards the entrance to the alley, murmuring something. John’s eyes widened and he looked at Rodney.

“McKay, call 911. Now!” He rushed forward into the alley and reached the man right as his legs gave out from underneath him and he collapsed. John was able to catch him before he hit the ground, thankfully.

“Hey, help is on the way. Everything’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine. What’s your name?”

He vaguely heard the rest of the team entering the alley and coming up behind him. The man stopped what he was murmuring to look into John’s eyes.

“Castiel.”

“Okay, Cas, we’re going to get you to the hospital. I’ll stay there until we can get ahold of someone for you. Is there anyone I can call for you? Family? Friends?”

The man nodded slowly, he was starting to lose consciousness. “Dean.”

John nodded. “Okay, does Dean have a last name?”

Cas kept murmuring the name over and over again before he finally slipped into unconsciousness. Just the one word: Dean.

“John? What are we going to do?”

John looked up at Teyla. “We’re going to get him to the hospital and then someone’s going to stay with him at all times until this Dean guy can get there. I don’t want him by himself.”

Rodney groaned at the pause in their vacation, but quickly stopped when he saw the look John had thrown his way.

The ambulance arrived a couple of minutes later and took Cas from John. They loaded him onto the gurney and put him into the back of the ambulance. John decided to go with and gave their room key and the keys to the rental car to Rodney and told them to meet him at the hospital.

John stayed with Cas until they wheeled him into surgery and then was back at his side as they wheeled him into his room after recovery. He explained to the staff who he was, that he had found them, and that he and his team were going to stay with him until his family could be reached.

And that’s exactly what they did. John made sure that someone was in the hospital room at all times in case he woke up. He didn’t want Cas to wake up in a strange place with no one around.

It took three days for him to regain consciousness because of the severity of the head wound. Three days of listening to Rodney complain about it ruining their vacation, three days of being indoors instead of enjoying the weather, but most importantly, three days of looking after someone who was in need of someone. And that’s what mattered to John.

**SPN**

“Dean, you might want to slow down a little. You won’t be helping Cas if we die in a car accident before we even get there.”

Dean’s grip on the wheel tightened as his foot pressed on the gas even harder. There was no way he was slowing down now. They were almost there and he needed to know if Cas was okay.

Sam sighed in frustration, but relented. There was no stopping a determined Dean. He was far too stubborn for that. It only took twenty more minutes and they were pulling up into the hospital parking lot.

Before the car was even off, Dean’s door was already opening. He pulled the key from the ignition, jumped out, and was walking across the parking lot by the time Sam finally managed to get out. He had to jog to catch up to his big brother who had already reached the hospital doors.

They walked in and were greeted by a rush of cold air that was greatly welcomed from the heat of the day. Dean strode across the lobby and stopped in front of the reception desk.

“Hi, may I help you?”

Dean threw on his most charming smile, which she bought, and flirted his way into finding out where Cas’s room was. “Yes, um…Lisa, I was just informed of my…cousin’s accident and that was being treated here. I came straight here as soon as I was called and was hoping you could tell me where his room is. They didn’t say on the phone.”

She smiled and nodded, “Absolutely. What’s his name?”

“Castiel Novak.”

She nodded as she typed it into her computer. “He’s on the third floor, room 322.”

“Thank you very much, Lisa.”

He was on the move before she could get out her response and was all but running for the elevator with Sam close on his heels.

They made it up to the third floor agonizingly slow for Dean and burst through the doors as soon as they opened, almost knocking over a man who had been looking down at some papers.

If they hadn’t been in such a hurry, they probably would have found it comical the way the man had jumped back out of their way with his papers flying everywhere.

They walked quickly down the hall, scanning every room number as they passed by. They were getting close when a nurse stepped in front of them, cutting off their path.

“Excuse me, visiting hours are over. You can only be here if you’re family to someone being treated here.”

Dean was getting annoyed. “We are family. We’re looking for Castiel Novak. We were just informed that he was here.”

Her gaze softened as she nodded towards the room. “A man from the military was the one who found him. He demanded that he and his team stay with Mr. Novak until his family could arrive. He and his wife are in there now.”

Sam nodded his thanks as Dean was already moving towards the door. He stepped through the door, eyes already searching for Cas when something caught his eye.

He stopped dead in his tracks. Sam hadn’t been expecting him to stop that suddenly and ran right into him.

“Dean, what are you doing?”

Dean’s eyes had widened as they locked with another man’s sitting across the room with a woman. His lips parted in confusion.

The man stood and took a couple of steps towards Dean. Everyone looked around at each other in confusion as the two men stared at each other. They were just feet apart by this point and Cas was looking back and forth between the two men.

Sam walked over to the side of Cas’s bed and looked over at the two of them to get a better view of what was happening.

Finally, the men found their voices and spoke at the same time.

“Dean?”

“John?”


	2. Reunited At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a filler chapter...It was hard to write since there was so much information that had to go into it. Oh, and someone asked if this was going to be a Dean/John pairing story? It's not. It's strictly John/Teyla, Dean/Cas.

Both men were in shock as neither had been expecting to ever see each other again and yet here they were, face to face after years.

Dean broke the silence that had engulfed the room. “What are you doing here?”

“I was the one who found him. My team and I were walking down the street when I saw him in an alley. What are you doing here?”

“He’s family. He called to let us know where he was and to come get him.”

Silence surrounded the two men once more. Realization hit Cas and Teyla at the same time. They had both been told about their significant other’s best friend from childhood. They had been told many, many stories of how the boys spent their time together before they were ripped apart before their senior year of high school.

Sam was the only one not fully understanding what was happening as he continued to look between his brother and the strange man named John.

“Dean, what’s going on?”

Dean finally tore his eyes off of John and looked at his little brother. “You don’t remember John?”

That’s when John realized who the giant was and his eyes widened. “Wait a minute, that’s Sammy?”

Dean looked back at John, smiling proudly of his little brother. “Yeah, he’s turned into quite a moose, but that’s my little brother.”

John took in all of Sam and smiled just as proudly as Dean was. “Damn, you’ve gotten big. The last time I saw you, you were half my size and following us around like a lost puppy.”

Dean chuckled and nodded, “He still does the following like a lost puppy part, but he’s done quite a bit for himself. Went to Stanford for a couple of years.”

John’s eyes went even wider as he looked back at Dean. “No shit, Standford? Damn, we always knew he’d get into one of those schools.”

Sam raised a hand, “Wait a minute…you’re telling me that this…you’re…John Sheppard? The guy who practically lived at our house for years? The guy who’d get into a fight just because someone looked at my brother the wrong way? The guy who stole his dad’s car and went joyriding with Dean one night?”

Both men nodded, looking over at Sam before looking at each other. Dean took in the man in front of him, taking in all of the scars he’d obtained his the last time he saw him.

“Nineteen years. I never thought I’d see you again.”

John nodded, taking in Dean as well. “Neither did I. I don’t know how many times I tried to call you, left messages. I went by that motel every day that summer to see if you had come back.”

Dean nodded. “I wanted to call, but Dad wouldn’t let me. Said he’d have my head if he found out I’d gotten a hold of you and told you where we were. I tried to leave some kind of message or sign, but he caught me. By the time he trusted me enough not to get ahold of you, I figured you wouldn’t wanna hear from me anyway.”

They stayed silent for a few moments, neither quite sure what to say. Teyla broke the silence as she appeared next to John. She stuck out her hand towards Dean as John had taught her to do and shook Dean’s hand.

“I have heard a lot about you, Dean.”

He smirked, “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, to be honest.”

She laughed, “It is a good thing, believe me. John has told me about everything you did for him when you were children.”

Dean shook his head, “It’s more like everything he did for me when we were kids.”

John rolled his eyes, but wrapped an arm around Teyla’s waist. “Dean, this is my wife, Teyla.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Wife? You’re married? Damn, congratulations!”

John smiled lovingly down at Teyla as she smiled back up at him. After a moment, Teyla said, “Why don’t the two of you take a walk? I’m sure you two have things to catch up on. I am fine here.”

John looked up at Dean who looked over at Cas for the first time, a question in his eyes. “Go, Dean. I will be fine. Sam and I can converse with Teyla while you two are gone.”

Dean nodded and looked at Sam for confirmation. He nodded that it would okay, so Dean looked back at John and nodded.

They left the room and walked down the hallway in silence. They walked through the hospital and out into the parking lot. As they walked towards the impala, John’s smile appeared back on his face.

“I can’t believe you still have her. She looks just as good as she did back then! If not even better.”

Dean smiled proudly at his baby. “Yeah, I’ve had to rebuild her a few times, but she’s pulled through for us.”

John nodded as he ran his hand along the hood, taking in her beauty. “You know, I remember when your dad taught us how to rebuild an engine. If I remember correctly, he ended up catching something on fire.”

Dean laughed, remembering the summer before freshman year when his dad had taken them out to the garage every day and taught them everything they knew about cars and engines.

“The transmission blew up. Scared the hell out of both of us. It took dad a week before he got the balls to let us back into the garage again.”

John laughed, nodding along. “We had some good times in that garage. Like that party we threw one weekend when your parents were out of town and Sammy was over at a friend’s house? That was fun.”

“Yeah! Until Mom and Dad came home early and grounded me for two months. Not that that stopped us from having more parties.”

John nodded, “Yeah. Nineteen years. That’s a long time.”

Dean leaned against the impala, staring out into the parking lot, but not really seeing it. John joined him.

“All those years ago…on the night of the fire, you texted me and asked me to come over because you had to tell me something. I never asked because of what happened, but I never forgot. I always wondered what it was.”

Dean lowered his head, fully aware of what he was talking about, but not sure if he had the courage to tell his best friend.

“You know, it’s been almost two decades. You’d think I’d have the balls by now to man up and just be out with it.”

John looked sideways at Dean, but let him get there in his own time. He didn’t want to push him into saying something he wasn’t ready to say.

It took a few minutes, but Dean took a deep breath before opening his mouth again.

“That night I decided it was time to tell you. I’d been trying to find a way to tell you that whole week, but was never sure how. We were best friends and I didn’t want to ruin that. Then the fire happened and I never got a chance. I was too preoccupied with helping my dad and Sammy. They needed me, so I couldn’t think of myself. I needed to be there for my family.”

He was quite for a moment as he dug around for the right words.

“I guess I might as well just say it. I’m…uh, I’m gay.”

John turned to look at Dean who was clearly avoiding eye contact. “I know.”

Dean’s head snapped up and their eyes locked. “You know?”

“Well yeah, I know. We’re practically brothers, of course I know. We spent every minute we could with each other since before I can remember. I saw the way you looked at some of the guys at school. I suspected for a while, but the first day of high school confirmed it when I saw you check out one of the seniors.”

Dean’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, you’ve known since freshman year and you didn’t say anything?”

John shrugged. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable so I figured I’d let you tell me in your own time.”

Dean still couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that the person he’d always been terrified to tell, had known all along. “And you were never freaked out by it or anything?”

“Well, maybe the first hour I suspected it, but I was a kid and my mom told me that it didn’t change who you are, you’re still my best friend, and it didn’t really matter. I knew you didn’t like me that way, it was obvious we were brothers, so I was cool with it. Still am.”

Dean snorted, turning back to face the parking lot. “Huh. Well, then I guess it’s safe to assume that I can easily tell you that Cas is my boyfriend, has been for years.”

John nodded, a smile slipping onto his face. “Yeah, I kind of got that impression by the way you stormed into the room and then the look you sent him before we left. I’m happy for you. He seems like a nice guy from what I’ve gathered. Not very talkative, but of course he was unconscious for a few days and surrounded by strangers.”

Dean chuckled, “Nah, that’s Cas. He’s not very talkative around anyone, so don’t take it personally.”

John nodded, “So, to steer the conversation to other matters, what are you doing these days?”

Dean hesitated, not sure what all he should say, but as he looked over at the man standing next to him, he realized that this man was still family even after all these years.

“You probably won’t believe me, but…I hunt monsters, demons. Or, well, I did. Not so much these days. Sammy and I are hunters. Well, and Men of Letters now, I guess. And Cas is too since he Fell.”

John’s brow furrowed as he looked over at Dean. “Monsters and demons? Fell? Men of Letters?”

Dean nodded, completely serious. “Yep. Pains in the ass, if you ask me, but we don’t have to deal with them anymore. Um, Men of Letters…that one’s more complicated. Has to do with my grandpa and I’m not sure I even understand it all. Cas…Cas is an angel. He Fell a few days ago. That’s why he was in that alley where you found him. He locked the Gates of Heaven and Fell.”

John nodded slowly, knowing that Dean was serious. “You’re dating an angel. Huh. Wait, is that why you guys took off? The monsters and stuff?”

Dean nodded, “Yeah, Dad found out a demon named Azazel killed our mom, so he went after it and took us with him. I raised Sammy the rest of the way, looked after him while Dad was out on hunts. He taught us how to hunt and…it became the family business. Been doin’ it ever since.”

“Huh, well that explains a lot.”

Dean looked over at John curiously. “So, you believe me? About the monsters and demons and everything?”

John nodded, thinking about his own monsters. “Yeah, I’ve seen my fair share of them. Don’t worry, I won’t cart you off to the looney bin.”

Dean chuckled, nodding. “What about you? Back there you said something about your team.”

“Yeah, uh…after you left I joined the Air Force. Dad got really hard to be around and the Air Force was the easiest way out. Been in ever since. I’m a Lieutenant Colonel now actually. I’m the military commander of a base and have my own team. That’s how I met Teyla.”

Dean was impressed. “Wow, military commander. So, Teyla’s military too?”

John hesitated like Dean had. He technically wasn’t allowed to tell Dean anything, but then he realized that Dean was still his brother. He had told him his deep secret he’d been holding onto and the secret he lugged around with him everywhere he went about what he did. That’s what made his decision for him.

“Not exactly. Dean, what I’m about to tell you is classified at the highest level. You can’t tell anyone, not even Sam or Cas.”

Dean turned his full attention to John, instantly curious. “This isn’t one of those things where if you tell me, you have to kill me, right?”

John laughed, “Maybe, but I’m gonna tell you anyway. Have you ever heard of Atlantis?”

Dean’s brow furrowed. “You mean that story about a big city sinking into the ocean, never to be seen again?”

John nodded, “Yeah, that’s the one. Well, we found it. On another planet. In another galaxy.”

Dean’s mouth dropped open, not sure what to think. “Wait, you’re telling me that the lost city of Atlantis isn’t just some made-up story and it’s actually in another galaxy?”

“Yep, sure am. We believe that the Greeks heard about it from the race that built it and believed it to be on Earth. They also built the stargates. The stargate is a ring that opens a wormhole to other planets, even other galaxies given enough power. That’s where I’ve been for the last five years of my life. I’ve been on Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy.”

“Okay, so…there’s a ring that lets you travel to other places…and you’ve traveled to a city in another galaxy where you’ve been for five years…”

John nodded. “Yep, pretty much. That’s where I met Teyla. She’s from a planet in the Pegasus galaxy.”

“You’re married to an alien?”

John burst into laughter at the incredulousness in Dean’s voice. “Yeah, I’m married to an alien. She’s a part of my team and has been since the beginning. I have another alien on my team, his name is Ronon Dex. Intimidating when you first see him, but he grows on you.”

Dean crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Huh. So what do you do on this city in another galaxy?”

“We explore other planets. We…actually, we fight monsters of our own. They’re called the Wraith.”

Dean snorted. “I’ve run into a Wraith or two in my time. Almost got the best of us too. Probably something totally different, but same name. So, tell me more about your team.”

“Well, I mentioned Ronon. He’s a big guy with dreadlocks, barely says anything. Grunts half his answers. He should be here soon. Dr. Rodney McKay should be here soon too. He’s the head of the Science and Research department. Be careful what you say around him, his ego is the size of Texas.”

Dean cracked a smile, imagining his friend’s team. They seemed like an interesting group to him and he couldn’t wait to meet the rest.

“You’ve already met my wife, Teyla. It’s just the four of us on the team. McKay and Ronon will be bringing our son as well.”

Dean’s head snapped up and looked at John. “Your son? You have a kid?”

John smiled proudly, nodding his head. “Yeah, his name is Torren John. He’s just over a year old.”

Dean smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him.” He looked down at his watch and realized they’d been gone for almost an hour.

“Wow, we should probably be heading back. They’ll be wondering where we went.” John nodded and followed Dean towards the hospital.

They continued to talk, filling in details of the what they’d missed in each other’s lives. As they entered the hallway that Cas’ room was located in, a nurse stopped them.

“Excuse me, Mr. Winchester? I need you to fill out some insurance forms. Your brother said you would be able to.”

He nodded, reaching for his wallet where his insurance card was. “No problem. I’ll meet you back in the room.” John nodded and walked back to the room, leaving Dean at the Nurse’s station filling out paperwork.

When he stepped into the room, everyone looked up curiously. Sam stood from the seat he’d been sitting in. “Where’s Dean?”

“Filling out paperwork. He should be in in a few minutes.”

Sam nodded and sat back down. John walked over to Teyla and sat down, giving her a quick peck on the lips as a hello. “How did the talk with Dean go?”

John smiled, “Good. We got caught up, for the most part.”

A few minutes later, Dean stepped into the room and walked over to the side of Cas’s bed where no one was located. He sat down in an empty chair that had been pulled up right next to his side and wrapped his hand in Cas’s.

“The nurse said you can be discharged in a couple of hours. They just want to keep you under observation until then to be on the safe side.” He was looking at Cas worriedly, finally able to focus solely on his boyfriend.

Cas smiled warmly at him, knowing exactly what Dean was feeling. “I am fine, Dean. John and his team got to me just in time.”

Dean looked over at John, thanking him silently. They had always been able to communicate with just looks as Dean and Cas could. John nodded in understanding, knowing how grateful he would be if their roles were reversed.

Dean turned back to Cas. “When we get out of here, we’ll get you home where you belong.” A look passed between the two men as Cas realized that Dean had had another dream.

He remembered how worried Dean had been the first time he’d Fallen and Dean had woken up in a panic. He’d described his dream to him then, but there hadn’t been much to it. Their bond hadn’t formed all the way at that point. Cas was nervous to find out how bad the dream was with how much they had bonded since. He knew that Dean must have been freaking out considering he had been unconscious for three days and was unable to let Dean know he was okay and safe.

He made a mental note to talk to Dean about it once they were alone and find out how bad the dream was, how much he had seen and felt.

**SPN**

A few hours later, the nurse was finally ready to allow Cas to be discharged. Sam had brought about a good point and had said that they probably shouldn’t drive all the way through without stopping considering Cas had been through a lot.

That had been when Teyla had gotten a good idea and suggested that John and the team should spend the rest of their vacation with the Winchesters and Cas. Rodney had wanted to visit Jeannie for a while, so it would work. Of course, the brothers and Cas loved the idea, so it was settled.

John had called Rodney and told him that they would meet them at the hotel and not to go anywhere. Dean had offered to give them a ride back to their hotel once they were good to go. The plan was to get them packed and they would follow the impala back to the bunker.

They made a plan to stop for the night about halfway since they had an infant and a worn out fallen angel.

Dean had grabbed some clean clothes for Cas to change into before they had rushed out of the bunker. Sam had returned to the impala and grabbed them for Cas to change into as Dean and Cas both had to sign some more paperwork.

Once Cas was all set to go and they were walking down the hallway, Dean wrapped an arm around his waist and placed a soft kiss to his temple.

Cas looked up at him with a loving smile on his face. “I am sorry for not being able to get ahold of you sooner, Dean. I cannot imagine what you went through not knowing what had happened.”

Dean gave him a soft smile and tightened his hold on Cas. “It’s okay, Cas. I have you back now. That’s all that matters. Now, let’s get you home.”

 


	3. You Destroyed Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone from Team Free Will's past makes a mysterious appearance that destroys any kind of plans the group had for their vacation. Sam and Cas get the surprise of a lifetime at the same time as being thrown back into a game they are all too familiar with: worrying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how sorry I am for not updating this story in months...I have been so busy with my other stories and life happened and yeah...SOOOOO sorry!!! >.

**Chapter 3**

They drove to the hotel while Sam told some rather embarrassing stories of Dean. He told them stories about the many times where Dean would get drunk and do something incredibly stupid like when he walked back from the bar, but instead of going to their motel, he went to the wrong motel. He couldn’t get into ‘their room’ so he started pounding on the door calling for Sam. The occupants opened the door and he stuttered an apology before stumbling away.

Sam had followed him, curious why he hadn’t gone back to the motel and couldn’t stop laughing at what he saw. He never let Dean live it down since.

Dean rolled his eyes at the story. “You know, I have a few stories of my own, Sammy. I’m sure Cas does too.”

Cas chuckled. “I have more than a few, Dean. For both of you.”

Dean looked over at Cas, faking insult. “That hurts, Cas. You would betray your own boyfriend for a few laughs.”

Cas rolled his eyes and looked back at John and Teyla. “When he is drinking, I am sure the stories will be coming out.”

John laughed and looked at Dean’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Oh, I’m sure they will be.”

Dean sighed under his breath, knowing that some pretty embarrassing stories would be coming out sooner or later. Teyla smiled at him, “Do not worry, Dean. Ronon and I have plenty of stories about John as well.”

Dean laughed at loud at the look on John’s face. “Oh man, now I can’t wait to hear these!”

They laughed and carried on for the rest of the way to the hotel and until they arrived at the door to the suite. John pulled out his key and unlocked the door. He held it open for all of them to walk through and closed it behind them.

“Mckay! Ronon! We’re back!”

Rodney walked out of his room and stopped mid-step when he realized they weren’t alone.

“Rodney, this is Dean Winchester and his brother Sam. I’m sure you remember Cas.”

Rodney nodded, looking between the two men confused. “Um, nice to meet you. What’s going on, Sheppard?”

“There’s been a change in plans. We’ll be spending our vacation with them. Didn’t you say you wanted to go see your sister for a while? Might give you a good chance to do just that.”

Rodney nodded, already forming plans in his head on what he had to do. “Yes, that’s a good idea. I told Jeannie I’d come by for a while, see the kid.”

John rolled his eyes. “You might want to stop calling her ‘the kid’. Oh, and on your way there, stop by a toy store. Buy her a present. It’ll get you in her good books.”

 Rodney mumbled under his breath. “Yeah, yeah. Maybe.”

Ronon strolled into the room with Torren in his arms. Teyla smiled and walked towards them. She took him from Ronon and turned back to Dean, Sam, and Cas.

“This is our son, Torren.”

Dean smiled at the little boy who was looking at him curiously. “Hey there, TJ. My name’s Dean.”

TJ smiled, “De!”

John and Dean chuckled at his new nickname while Rodney looked back and forth between TJ and Dean.

“How did…You just…You heard Sheppard call him that, didn’t you?”

Dean looked at him confused. “What?”

John smiled at Dean. “I’m the only one who calls him TJ. And no, Rodney. When I told him about TJ, I used his full name.”

Ronon eyed Dean warily. John noticed the look and mentally slapped himself. “Oh! Right. Dean, Sam, this is Ronon Dex. Ronon, Dean and Sam Winchester.”

Sam smiled politely at the large man with dreadlocks as Dean stared him down giving him the same look he was receiving.

They were sizing each other up much in the same way John and Ronon had done when they first met.

“How long you known Shep?”

“How’d you know I know him?”

“Got that vibe.”

“Since we were kids. You?”

“Few years.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

John and Teyla looked between the two before sharing a smile. They both recognized the look and knew that they would become friends in no time in much the same way as John and Ronon had.

**SPN/SGA**

A day later, they arrived at the bunker. John had followed behind the impala the entire way there so they didn’t get lost. The plan was to spend a few days at the bunker so that Cas could recover from his injuries before they ventured out and had some fun.

Dean helped John with the bags while Sam unlocked the door and held it open for everyone. When they entered the main room, also known as their makeshift dining room, Cas smiled.

“It is good to be home.”

Dean smiled before looking over at John. “There are rooms down the hallway. I’ll show you guys where you’ll be staying.”

John nodded as he and Ronon followed Dean down the hallway towards their rooms. He walked by his and Cas’s room and stopped in front of the next door. He opened it, turned on the light and stepped inside.

“I don’t think this room’s been used in years. It’s the biggest of the rooms though, besides mine and Cas’s. I figured it’s big enough for the three of you.”

John nodded setting the bags he was carrying down and looked around the room. Dean stepped out and walked across the hall. He opened the door, turned on the light and nodded. “I wasn’t sure if this was a bedroom too or not. We haven’t really checked out all the rooms yet. Probably should. You can stay in here.”

Ronon grunted his thanks and stepped inside to set his bags down. Dean turned to John. “I’m gonna go make us some supper. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

John nodded, “I think I’ll help you.”

Dean quirked an eyebrow. “You can cook? Since when?”

John rolled his eyes. “You know, I have been in the military since I graduated. They have taught me some skills here and there.”

“And some of those skills can be used in the kitchen?”

Dean couldn’t help but laugh as he made his way down the hall towards the kitchen with John following close behind. “Hey, laugh all you want, but my skills have come in handy here and there! Sure helped the team from losing our minds from Rodney’s complaining on missions. Just ask Teyla!”

Teyla looked up from her conversation with Cas. “Ask me what?”

“About how my cooking skills have come in handy on missions. They sure shut Rodney up.”

Teyla nodded, looking at Dean. “His skills are quite satisfactory. It is quite a feat to close the mouth of Dr. McKay.”

Dean smiled, “You should hear Sam when he goes into geek mode. You can’t shut him up for hours.”

John snorted, “That’s it. We’re having a geek contest to see who can go on longer: Rodney or Sam. I’ll bring the popcorn if you bring the beer.”

“It’s a deal. Sam will pull a bitchface when he hears the idea. I can’t wait.”

Cas rolled his eyes at the two men. He knew that the next couple of weeks were going to be very interesting.

Sam walked out of the kitchen and gave Dean a bitchface. “Dean, I thought you said you went to the store.”

“No, I said you should go to the store.”

Sam pulled another bitchface. “Whatever, Dean. There’s nothing in there though. Looks like you’re making a trip.”

“Why me?”

“Because I made the trip last time. It’s your turn.”

John chuckled, “Things never change. I’ll go with, make it interesting.”

Dean snorted, “It’s never boring with us, that’s for sure.” Dean turned and looked over at Cas, sending him a look asking if he needed anything.

“I am fine, Dean. Whatever you pick up will be fine.”

Dean nodded, turning to look at John. “Okay, let’s hit the road. It’s about a fifteen minute drive to the store. Anybody needs anything while we’re out, call me.”

He swiped the keys from the table where he’d thrown them and headed out to the impala with John walking behind him. They slid into the impala and Dean brought her to life. “So what ever happened with Dave? You haven’t said anything about him.”

John nodded, looking out the windshield. “I haven’t spoken to him in a couple of years. Before that it’d been…a long time. He took over Dad’s business, made a good life for himself from what I saw.”

Dean nodded, “And your Dad?”

“He died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. I went back for the wake.”

Dean nodded again, not sure what to say. “Sorry to hear that. He…uh, had his moments.”

John chuckled, looking over at Dean. “Yeah and they were few and far between. The last time I spoke to him was three years after I joined the air force. He asked me when I was going to get my head out of my ass and stop messing around. He said that flying in circles all day was a waste of time. I told him I wasn’t quitting and he told me to leave. So I did and I never went back. Dave wouldn’t speak to me after I left, but I didn’t really mind. We never exactly got along anyway.”

“Yeah, you two were like oil and water. I don’t think I ever saw you two get along.”

John shook his head, “I don’t think I remember a time when we did. Other than a brief moment back after Dad’s wake. We got along for a good…twenty minutes maybe before we got into another argument and I decided it was time I left. Oh well, he’s made a life for himself and so have I. Maybe it’s best if we’re not in each other’s lives. So…what about you? I didn’t see John back there.”

Dean nodded, thinking back to all those years ago. “Yeah, he died almost ten years ago. You see…we’d finally tracked down the demon that killed Mom. We got banged up pretty good and were on our way to the hospital when we got into a car accident. I, uh…I almost died. They came out alright. Sam didn’t even need to be hospitalized. There was a…a reaper after me. It was my time to go. But Dad, he…he wasn’t having that. He made a deal with the demon, Azazel, and he traded places with me. He gave up his life so that I could look after Sammy, go after that evil son of a bitch and finish the job. And I did. I killed him a year later.”

John’s eyes widened. “Your…he switched places with you? But how is that even possible?”

Dean shrugged, “Azazel was powerful. He had a lot of influence and could do pretty much whatever he damn well pleased. If he wanted to switch one soul for another? Well, he got it done. Dad was determined. He made a bargain with him. Next thing we know, I’m free to go and Dad’s dead. We gave him a proper hunter’s funeral and we moved on. We found other family, ended up losing them too down the road, but we stuck together, Sammy and I. There were a few times when…we, uh, got separated, but we always found our way back to each other.”

John’s eyes narrowed. He saw the underlying meaning behind his words. “What do you mean you got separated? Separated how?”’

Dean swallowed, not sure how exactly to break the news that he’d gone to Hell and back. And Purgatory. And Sam went to the cage.

“Well, you see…uh…Not long before I killed Azazel, Sam…he died.”

There was silence for a long moment as John took that in. “He died. Sam died. But…he’s very much alive back in the bunker. Unless you have some kind of Sam-clone.”

Dean chuckled, “Clones aren’t real, dude. Nah, I made a deal with a demon. I traded places with Sam. They gave me a year to live in exchange for my soul.”

John’s forehead crinkled in confusion. Before he could say anything, Dean put the impala in park and stepped out. They had arrived at the grocery store without John realizing. He jumped out and jogged to catch up with Dean. When he caught up to him, he lowered his voice so he wasn’t overheard.

“So, you’re telling me that Sam died and then you made a deal and brought him back to life? In exchange for your soul? So then what happened? You can’t just stop there.”

Dean grabbed a cart and started towards the produce. If he didn’t bring Sam back any rabbit food, he knew Sam would pull a bitchface. “A year later when my time was up, hell hounds came after me and dragged my ass to Hell.”

He picked up some random vegetables and threw them into the cart, not really caring what they were but knowing that Sam probably wouldn’t complain.

“Okay. So, you died and went to Hell. How did you come back from _that?_ ”

Dean smiled softly, “Well, God told an angel to come down and pull me out. And he did. He was charged with us, sent to keep an eye on us or whatever. He ended up sticking around too.”

“ _Cas?_ Cas pulled you out of Hell?”

Dean nodded, picking up and examining a package of meat. “Yep. Still have the scar to prove it. Well, then more crap happened. Turns out that when a righteous man sheds blood in Hell, the first seal is broken. There are sixty-six seals that need to break. When they all break, Lucifer rises and the apocalypse starts. And only the man who breaks the first seal can stop him from rising.”

John nodded, following Dean as he moved from aisle to aisle. “Okay, that makes sense, I guess. So…I’m guessing…you’re the one who broke the first seal. That’s why Cas brought you back.”

Dean nodded, “Yep. We tried to stop the seals from breaking, but…there are six hundred possible seals so it’s impossible to know which ones are going to break and prevent it from happening. The last seal to break is when the first demon to be made is killed. Well, we didn’t know that until it was too late. I tried to warn Sam, but…it was too late. He killed her before I could tell him. And the apocalypse started.”

John stopped in his tracks, calculating in his head. “Wait…so the apocalypse actually started about…five years ago…that was when I left for…home.”

Dean looked up from a box of cereal he’d been studying. “Huh. That’s weird. Must be a coincidence.” He looked back to the cereal box before chucking it into the cart. John tucked the piece of information back into his mind to think about later.

“Okay. So I’m going to take a wild guess and say you managed to stop the apocalypse. How?”

Dean tensed for a moment, thinking back to all those years ago. “The plan was for Sam and I to become vessels for two angels: Lucifer and Michael. It had been written that when the final battle came to be, the battle between the two brothers, the world would basically end, it’d be that bad. The catch was…they had to have our permission to use us as vessels. That’s how angels work. They have to have permission to invade your body whereas demons don’t give two shits. It had to be us because we fit the profile perfectly. You know who Michael is, right?”

John racked his brain and thought back to all those Sunday school lessons. “Uh, he’s the archangel, right? The older brother?”

Dean nodded, “Yeah. He’s the older brother. The loyal son who obeyed an absent father. Lucifer is the rebellious son. Well, the shoe fit. I’m the older brother who did everything Dad told me to do, even though he was nowhere to be found. I raised Sammy by myself, following his orders, doing everything he told me to do. Watch out for Sammy, keep an eye on your little brother, don’t let Sammy get hurt. Sam…well, Sam never liked to listen to Dad. He ran off a couple of times. He and Dad were always fighting. If Dad said to do something, Sam went and did the opposite. I guess you could say…it was _predestined._ Well, when I refused to kill my brother…we found out that Dad had had another son. One we never knew about. His name was Adam. He fit the profile too, loyal to an absent father. Sam eventually agreed when we came up with a plan to throw the two of them into the cage that Lucifer had been held in. We’d planned to get Lucifer out of Sam before they were thrown in, but…it didn’t work that way and we lost Sam.”

John picked up a can of soup absently, forcing his mind to take in everything at once. “You two were supposed to kill each other in the final battle that would end the world. Then you found out you have a little brother. You threw both brothers into the cage…and then what?”

They continued on down the aisle. “Sam made me promise to let it go if worse came to worse and he went in too. He made me promise to go live the ‘apple pie life’ with…and forget about him. So, I did. I said goodbye to the man who was more of a father than John ever was, packed up, and left. For a year. Then Sam shows up, saying he’s been back for a whole year hunting monsters without me. And _then_ I discovered he had no soul. He’d been brought of the cage, but…his soul had gotten stuck down there with Michael and Lucifer. And Adam. So that began our journey to get his soul back. Then he got it back, he went a bit mental, and had a breakdown. Oh, and Cas had betrayed us all and was working with Crowley, the King of Hell, and ended up swallowing every soul from Hell, giving him one hell of a power kick. He played God for a while before it tore him apart. He released all the souls back into Hell except…for these beasts called Leviathans. They were the first creatures God made. Evil sons of bitches. I hated those bastards. Cas sacrificed himself to get rid of them. But…they survived and went on a killed spree.

I found Cas again. He’d survived somehow, but had gotten amnesia from everything. I asked him to trust me and come with me to save Sam and he did. He didn’t even remember who I was, but…he trusted me. He recognized me, but…didn’t remember everything we’d been through yet. I jogged his memory somehow and then he traded places with Sam. Sam…was in a mental hospital. Lucifer was in his head, giving him hallucinations, torturing him from the inside. Cas…took that on himself and gave me my brother back. Bobby died…and then I tracked down and killed Dick Roman, the leader of the Leviathans. Which…Cas and I found out the hard way that when you stand too close to exploding Dick…you get a ticket straight to Purgatory where there are thirty-one flavors of bottom-dwelling nasties and most days feel like three hundred and sixty degree combat.”

John felt like he had whiplash. There was way too much information to process all at one time. “Both you and Cas went to Purgatory then? How did you get out?”

“Well, we spent a year in there. A friend of mine…Benny. He told me about a portal that lets humans escape Purgatory. It was designed by God. I helped Benny get out and Cas was supposed to come with us, but…he felt like he needed to prove himself and he stayed behind. I…He let go of my hand…right as we were about to go through the portal together. A while later…he got out. Angels were sent to rescue him. And that started a whole new mess.”

John chuckled, “It seems your life has been one huge adventure since we last saw each other.”

Dean nodded, “Yeah. I guess that’s one word for it. I’m just happy it’s finally over.”

John nodded, “So…tell me how that’s possible. If there are all these monsters you’ve been killing for years…and the apocalypse…how is it over?”

Dean headed over to the dairy aisle, almost done with their shopping. “Well, around the time Cas was rescued from Purgatory, which…was only a year ago, I might add…We found a way to close the gates of Hell. The catch was…we had to complete three trials in order to close them. Kill a hell hound, free a soul from Hell, and cure a demon. I had decided I was going to be the one to complete them, but…things didn’t go as planned. Sam ended up saving my life by the damn hell hound I was trying to kill and he started the trials instead. At the same time…the angel who gave the order for Cas to be rescued decided I needed to be killed. By Cas. She brainwashed him, making him think I was the bad guy. She had him spy on us to get to the angel tablet which…told us there’s a way to close the gates to Heaven as well. Well…when Cas tried to kill me…I was able to break through the brainwashing. He healed me, told me everything, then vanished with the tablet in order to protect it. The angels hunted him down. We lost the tablet, but got him back. Then…Sam was finally able to close the gates to Hell. He almost died in the process, but he did it. Not too long after that…Cas closed the gates to Heaven and you know the rest.”

John took a few minutes to run through everything he’d been told while he helped Dean load the food onto the belt in the check-out line. He waited until they were on their way out of the store when he turned towards Dean. “After everything Cas did…after he betrayed you guys and then tried to kill you…all of that…you’re still with him?”

Dean nodded, looking at his childhood friend sincerely as he opened the trunk and started piling groceries into it. “Every time Cas went and did something stupid, he either did it to protect us or because he thought it was the right thing to do. He always thought he was doing the right thing. That’s who Cas is. He’s always been loyal, except for once when he partnered with Crowley, but even then he felt awful for doing it. When he tried to kill me…that wasn’t him. That was Naomi trying to kill me. He’s saved my ass more times than I can count. He’s…he’s my best friend and I trust him with my life, with my brother’s life. It’s cheesy, but…he’s everything to me.”

A voice Dean never thought he would ever hear again came from behind him. “Aw, how sweet. The blood monkey has feelings.”

Dean whipped around, grabbing the gun from his waistband and pointing it at the last person he ever wanted to see. “Zachariah.”

“Dean Winchester. We meet again. Tell me, what’s it like not having to go hunt down monsters all the time?”

Dean noticed that John had pulled a gun out as well and was pointing it at Zachariah, completely confused. “How are you alive? I killed you.”

Zachariah smiled, “Yeah, you did, but it seems that someone particularly powerful wanted me back. Don’t worry, I haven’t been back long. Just long enough to witness your boyfriend destroy his own kind.”

Dean wanted to growl at him. Or shoot him. “He didn’t destroy them. Some of them Fell, some of them got locked in Heaven. None of them died unless they didn’t survive the Fall.”

“That’s not what I meant, but I’ll play along. Tell me again…why exactly did good ole Castiel lock the gates to Heaven? I missed the debriefing.”

“You’ve missed quite a bit while you’ve been dead. There’s a new up and comer. Her name is Naomi. And she wanted my head on a platter, so Cas shut the gates. That, and nothing good was ever going to come from angels being allowed to roam freely. A good chunk of them are as bad as demons now.”

Zachariah twisted his head sideways. “I don’t know about that, Dean. I think it’s the other way around. You see…Castiel is the one who is as bad as a demon. And then you add in those who supported him like Bathazar and Gabriel…Of course, we can’t forget about what you did, now can we? You’re the whole reason we’re in this mess to begin with.”

Dean shook his head, “What are you talking about?”

“Why…I’m talking about your relationship with Castiel, of course. You’re the reason why destiny has been ruined, why fate is just simply a word in a dictionary now. You ruined Castiel. He was once a warrior of God. And now look at him. He’s probably at home cooking supper and serving alcoholic beverages, isn’t he?”

Dean smirked, “Nope. Actually, I’m the one who cooks. Cas can’t even cook rice. So, your theory was just shot to hell.”

Zachariah frowned at Dean. “Either way it doesn’t change the fact that you ruined him. Because of your relationship with him you turned him against his own brothers. You made him betray his own kind. And for what? Something as pitiful as love?”

Dean’s eyes narrowed. “You know, I’d love to go all chick flick here and say that love really isn’t that pitiful and can make you do great things, but I’ll refrain. Instead, I’ll just shoot you so I can go home to Cas and forget you even had the balls to track me down. How does that sound?”

Zachariah smirked, “You think you’re going to get away that easily? Try again.”

John shifted uneasily next to Dean, not liking where this was going. He wasn’t even completely sure what was happening. Zachariah seemed to notice the subtle shift in movement and shifted his gaze towards John.

“And you are…?”

Dean responded before John could get the chance. “Don’t worry about him. He has nothing to do with this.”

“On the contrary, I was brought back to destroy the infamous Dean Winchester. Part of destroying someone is to start people they care about. Obviously, you care about this blood monkey, so…he shall be the first to die because of you.”

Dean panicked, “No! If you want to destroy me, then just kill me. Send me back to Hell. That’ll do the trick.”

Zachariah smiled menacingly. “Oh, I’m sure it would. I remember the last time you were in Hell. It didn’t take long before you were broken and ripping apart souls for pleasure. You became the very thing you hunt, Dean: a monster. You should know better than anyone that all monsters have to be destroyed at some point. This is merely my way of doing it.”

He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a gun. He frowned at it before looking up at Dean. “Crude, I know. I have to resort to such inane measures thanks to Castiel.”

He pointed the gun at John and smiled. “I would say it was nice meeting you, but…it wasn’t. You can thank Dean for this.”

Zachariah pulled the trigger. Three times.

John felt the world start to spin as something collided with him and he was falling towards the ground right as he heard a gunshot. He heard two more shots, right after the first, as he was falling. It seemed to be happening in slow motion for him.

When he finally landed on the ground, he looked up and watched as Zachariah smirked before walking away. He didn’t understand. Why did he leave without killing him?

He looked to see what had collided with him to find Dean lying halfway on top of him. “Dean?”

Dean looked up at him and John saw a familiar look of pain highlighted in his eyes. His own eyes widened, knowing that the other two bullets had found a target. John moved them so that Dean was lying on the ground and John was supporting his head whilst simultaneously putting pressure on the wounds.

“Dean…Dean, you’re going to be okay. It’s not that bad…I’m going to get you help, okay? You just have to fight.”

Dean nodded, but didn’t say anything. He was conserving his strength in order to fight like hell for his life. John instructed Dean to put pressure on one of the wounds so he could reach into his pocket and grab his phone. He dialed a number he’d hoped he wouldn’t need while on vacation and waited for them to pick up.

“O’Neill.”

“General! It’s Sheppard. I don’t have time to explain. A friend of mine and I were just attacked. He’s bleeding badly from two bullet wounds to the chest. There’s no time to get him to a hospital. I need to get him to Carson. Now.”

“Colonel, he doesn’t have security clearance. The best I can do is bring-.”

“No! I don’t care about the damn security clearance! He’ll sign it when he lives through surgery. I know he will. I know him as well as I know myself. I need the Daedalus to beam us up and then to the gate room so we can get him to Carson. General…he’s going to die if I don’t get him to Carson. I wouldn’t ask this of you if it wasn’t important.”

There was a moment of silence as John concentrated on applying pressure to the wound. Dean was watching him intently, wondering what was going on.

“Okay. I’ll radio Caldwell. He’s not going to like it, but I’ll deal with him. Are the others with you?”

“No. They’re somewhere else with Dean’s brother and…cousin. I need you to call them and get them there. _With_ his brother and cousin. They’re his only family and they need to be there. Make them sign the damn security clearance before you send them through if you need to, but they need to go.”

“Okay. You’ll be beamed up momentarily.”

The line went dead and John slipped the phone back into his pocket, returning pressure to the other wound. He looked into Dean’s eyes and forced a smile onto his face. “Don’t worry, Dean. I’m getting you to the best doctor in two galaxies. He performs miracles. You’re going to be just fine, I promise.”

Dean nodded, trusting John the way he always had. “Just in case I don’t…y’know…”

John shook his head, “No, don’t even talk like that. Don’t you dare give up, Dean.”

Dean shook his head, “Not giving up. Jus…amuse me.”

John frowned, but nodded. Dean kept talking. “If don’t make it…tell Cas…tell ‘im I love ‘im. An…don’t let ‘im do anythin’ stupid.”

John nodded, “I will, I promise. But I won’t have to because you’re going to live through this and you can tell him yourself. I’ll get you back to him. You have my word. You’ll see him again.”

Dean smiled, trusting John as much as he trusted Sam and Cas. He’d never lost faith in John and he’d be damned if he did now. Before they knew it, they were both engulfed in a bright light. It only lasted a moment before they were suddenly somewhere else.

John looked up. “Get us to the gate room! Now! We need to get him to Atlantis!”

They were engulfed in another bright light that was over just as quickly. They were in another place. To Dean it looked more military than the last and he had to wonder where they were. He looked over and saw a stretcher was waiting for them along with two marines. They quickly helped John get Dean onto the stretcher and picked it up as the gate was dialed.

Dean watched the gate intently, fascinated. He watched as the wormhole came to life and shimmered like a pool of water. As soon as the wormhole has subsided, they were moving up the ramp towards it. Before Dean knew it, they were going through it and everything went black.

**SPN/SGA**

Teyla smiled as Torren clapped his hands. Sam had been making strange faces at him and Torren had been enjoying it. She wished that John could be there to watch their son having so much fun, but she knew he would be back soon.

Her pocket began to vibrate and she tensed, not understanding why her pocket was vibrating. After a moment, she remembered the cell phone that John had given her and taught her to use. She pulled it out of her pocket and answered it. “Hello?”

“Teyla, this is General O’Neill. I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

Her brow furrowed and she glanced at Ronon, a sinking feeling hitting her. “What is it, General?”

The entire room stopped what they were doing and watched her. Sam and Cas were confused as to why she would be getting a call from a general and Ronon was worried about the same thing.

“There’s been an accident. I’m not free to give details over the phone, but I need you to get your belongings together quickly. Also…I was instructed to have you bring Sam Winchester and Castiel Novak with the three of you as well. I will be calling Dr. McKay to notify him once I hang up with you.”

“What happened? Are they okay?”

“All I can say is…one of them is badly hurt. I don’t know much else. They’ve already gone through. The Daedalus will beam you up in ten minutes along with Mr. Dex, Torren, Mr. Winchester, and Mr. Novak. I will see you soon.”

The line went dead and she slipped the phone into her pocket as she stood up. She looked at the group, knowing they were all worried. “Something has happened to John and Dean. All the General said was that there was an accident and one was badly injured. All of us will be transported to them in ten minutes. I suggest the two of you pack a bag as well as one for Dean.”

She started towards the room she was meant to share with John and Torren to retrieve their bags. Sam stepped in front of her. “What do you mean there’s been an accident? And transported how?”

She sighed, knowing they did not have time for this. “He did not say what kind of accident or anything else. He just said that you and Cas are to accompany us back to the base. We only have ten minutes to get ready. It is hard to explain, but…John once told me that it is like something from a show called Star Trek. He called it a transporter beam. It is very similar in design. It will not hurt, I assure you.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “We’re going to be beamed up? Where?”

“Sam, I am sorry, but we do not have time for questions. We will be beamed up to a ship and then to the base where we will then go to John and Dean. Then we will find out what is going on. That is all I know. Now, I suggest you pack a bag quickly. As well as Cas pack a bag for himself and for Dean. You will most likely be staying a while.”

She stepped around Sam and moved quickly to her room to get the bags. She had to make a couple of trips since she has Torren in her arms. She watched as Ronon retrieved his own belongings as well as Sam and Cas leave to pack their own.

Ten minutes later, they were all standing in the dining room, waiting to be beamed up. There was no warning. Suddenly, there was a bright light before they were standing in a room aboard the Daedalus. Teyla smiled kindly at Colonel Caldwell.

“Colonel, we are ready to be beamed to the SGC now.”

He nodded, “Good luck.”

There was another beam of light and then they were all standing in what appeared to be a conference room. Sam and Cas looked around, curious. A man stepped forward wearing a blue Air Force Uniform and had gray hair. “Name’s General O’Neill. Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain. Now, before I can send you to the Colonel and his friend, I need both to sign security clearances saying that you will not discuss what you see here or where you will be going with anyone outside of this base and the next base.”

Sam nodded, “Of course, we’ll sign anything.”

Jack nodded and gestured towards the pieces of paper lying on the conference table. Sam moved towards it and skimmed over it quickly before picking up a nearby pen and signing his name. He looked up at Cas and quietly explained what he was to do since Cas had never had to sign anything before. When that piece of business was completed, General O’Neill walked them down the gate room. Ronon helped Teyla with her bags since John wasn’t there to help her.

When they walked into the gate room, Sam and Cas both stared at the stargate in wonder.

Sam’s eyes widened, not being able to tear them away from the sight. “What the hell is that?”

Jack smiled, “That is called a stargate. It allows us to travel to other planets, even other galaxies. Colonel Sheppard and Dean Winchester went through the gate shortly before I called you. They travelled to another galaxy called the Pegasus galaxy. They’re in a city called Atlantis. Now, I’d love to brief you more, but I’m assuming you all would like to get to the city and find out what’s going on. I assume Ms. Emmagen and Mr. Dex would be more than happy to fill you on once you get there.”

He turned to Teyla before walking out of the room. “Keep me updated.”

She nodded, “I will, General. Thank you.”

He nodded before walking out of the gate room and up to the control room. The gate started to activate and Sam watched in stunned silence. Cas tilted his head to the side, wondering how such a device was possible.

The gate activated and the wormhole rushed out before falling back into place. Teyla and Ronon started towards the gate, prompting Sam and Cas to follow them. They made their way up the ramp and then through the gate.

When they appeared on the other side, Sam looked back at the gate in wonder before turning and taking in his surroundings. He’d never seen anything as marvelous as the room he was standing in.

Teyla made her way towards Dr. Weir who was descending the stairs rapidly. “Dr. Weir, what has happened? We were only told that there was an accident and that one of them was badly hurt.”

Elizabeth nodded when she joined the group. “Indeed. I don’t all the details, I was giving John some time, but what he told me was that a man turned to shoot him, but Dean pushed him out of the way. Dean was shot twice in the chest. He’s in surgery now.”

They left their bags with some marines standing by and turned towards the infirmary, Elizabeth joining them. “How bad is it?”

Elizabeth frowned. “When they came through the gate, Dean was unconscious from blood loss. His heart rate was dropping rapidly and he was very pale. They got him into surgery pretty quickly.”

Teyla nodded, picking up her pace towards the infirmary. She knew that John would be freaking out. They rounded the corner into the infirmary and found John pacing. He heard someone come in and turned to see who it was.

He was covered in blood. His shirt was bloody as well as his hands and he had a smear on his cheek. Teyla handed Torren to Ronon before embracing John and wrapping her arms around him. He closed his eyes, relieved to have his wife there with him finally. When they pulled away from each other, John looked over at Sam and Cas.

“What did O’Neill tell you guys?”

Teyla shook her head, “Just that there was an accident and that one of you had been injured badly.”

John nodded and started the story. “We’d just gotten the groceries into the trunk when we heard someone behind us. Dean called him Zachariah.”

Cas’s eyes widened. “How is that possible? Dean killed him.”

John nodded, “He asked the same thing. Zachariah said that some higher power wanted him brought back. He was brought back to destroy Dean. He said that in order to destroy him, he was going to take away everyone he cared about. That’s when he pointed the gun at me. He said everything was Dean’s fault. That he was the reason why you betrayed your brothers. He went on about how your relationship with him ruined everything. He pulled the trigger, but Dean pushed me out of the way. He was shot twice in the chest. I called O’Neill and got him to beam us up to the Daedalus and then get us here. I made sure that the two of you would be able to come. You needed to be here for Dean.”

Sam nodded, “Thanks. Have they said anything about his condition?”

John nodded, looking off towards the surgery room. “When we got through the gate, he’d already lost consciousness. He was really pale. When we got him to Carson, he said that his pulse was weakening. They rushed him into surgery after that and I haven’t heard anything since.”

Sam nodded, spotting a stool and sitting down on it. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustrated. They’d just been able to stop worrying about Cas only to turn around and have Dean to worry about. It seemed never-ending. Of course, in their line of work that’s how it always was.

Teyla looked down where John’s hands were resting on her hips. “John, your hands are shaking.”

He pulled them away and clasped them tightly together. “I’m fine. Just worried is all.”

She took a closer look at John’s face and noticed how pale he was. “John…you are very pale. Maybe you should sit down.”

He shook his head. “Teyla, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Ronon stepped closer. “She’s right, Shep. You don’t look so good.”

He shook his head again and took a few steps away, as if to start his pacing again. He was anxious, they could all see it, but there was something else.

John turned back towards Teyla and opened his mouth to say something when his head started to spin. His vision blurred a bit and he had to lean against the wall for support so he didn’t fall over. “John?”

Teyla rushed towards him and rested her hand on his shoulder. Her brow furrowed when she felt a tear in the jacket he was wearing. She removed her hand and found a small, circular hole in the shoulder of his jacket. Her eyes widened and she moved his jacket out of the way.

She found his shirt soaked in blood and a bullet wound. “John! You were shot! Why didn’t you tell anyone?!”

He looked down at the wound and frowned. “I…I didn’t know. Everything happened so fast…Before I knew it, Dean was bleeding. I couldn’t…”

He squeezed his eyes shut against the dizziness. The adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins was wearing off, allowing everything else to sink in and hit him all at once. He opened his eyes and they met with Teyla’s worried ones.

“Teyla…”

His eyes shut again, and this time they didn’t open again. His body collapsed and he landed on the floor against the wall. “John! Nurse! We need a nurse over here!”

She pressed two fingers to John’s neck, praying she found a pulse. She did, but it was weak. He’d lost a lot of blood in the time he’d been getting Dean the help he needed.

Teyla was pulled away from John as nurses appeared with Dr. Keller. She watched as they loaded him onto a gurney. The last she saw of her husband before he was wheeled into surgery was his pale face and bloody shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...what did you think? Team Free Will is now in the Pegasus Galaxy!! Of course...it's under horrible circumstances, but...they're there!! And...John and Dean are both in surgery from gunshot wounds.....and...Zachariah is alive...But hey! They're in Atlantis!! Haha. Sooo.....I have no idea what will be happening in the next chapter. Also, if there is anything y'all want to see in later chapters, please let me know!!


	4. The Long Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dean and John are in surgery, Ronon, Teyla, Sam, and Cas have some time to talk and clarify a few things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it took me so long to update. I've had most of this written for a while, just wasn't sure where exactly I wanted the end of the chapter to go yet. But...here it is!! Also, a note...pay close attention to when Cas is speaking. Take in his words and really think about them. I believe it is the first time he speaks. Just a heads up.

Chapter 4

Teyla sighed, staring across the infirmary at the opposite wall. It had been two hours since John had been taken into surgery and they had received no word on either him or Dean. They were all getting restless. Elizabeth had taken Torren for a while so he didn’t have to wait in the infirmary the whole time and that way Teyla could remain there, waiting for word on John. 

Sam stood from the chair he’d been sitting in and surveyed the room, sick of the silence. “So…tell me about Atlantis. I signed the security clearance. So tell me where we are.”

Teyla looked up at him and nodded, “John, Rodney, and Elizabeth are the best qualified to answer your questions, but I will try my best. We are in a city called Atlantis. It was built by a people called the Ancients. They inhabited the city ten thousand years ago before they were forced to leave. When they left, the traveled to Earth. John has told me stories about a great city full of lost treasures that sank into the ocean, how it was assumed a myth.”

Sam nodded, turning towards her. “Yeah, the great city of Atlantis. They made movies about it. You’re telling me that this…this is the lost city of Atlantis? The one that sank in the ocean on Earth?”

Teyla nodded, “Yes, John said the ancient Greeks must have heard the story of Atlantis from the Ancients. That is how the myth is thought to be created. Atlantis was never on Earth.”

“Okay, that makes sense. But why did the Ancients leave? Who are these people?”

“Some call them the gatebuilders. They are the race that built the stargate, the ring that we walked through to get here. The stargate allows us to travel among the stars, to different planets, different galaxies. The Ancients were…a superior race. They were highly advanced, far more advanced than anyone has ever seen. The Ancients accidentally created a species called the Wraith. They are monsters. They have the ability to suck the life out of you with their hands. The Ancients engaged in a war with the Wraith. They could defeat the Wraith in every battle as they were far more powerful, but they were also greatly outnumbered. They did not see a way for them to defeat the Wraith once and for all. So, they left. They sunk the city to the bottom of the ocean and left it there for ten thousand years.”

Sam nodded, taking in the information and flipping through it, analyzing every piece. “So what changed? Why raise the city again after so many years?”

“Five years ago, back on Earth, Elizabeth, Rodney, and a man named Dr. Jackson discovered a gate address that they believed would take them to Atlantis. They had been searching for the city for a while, trying to find a way to go to it. There was an Ancient outpost back on Earth they had discovered. They decided to give the gate address a try. They put together an expedition team made up of military, scientists, and doctors. John was among those in the first expedition. They opened a wormhole and went through it. At the time, they had no idea if what they had found was really the city or not. They also had no idea if they’d be able to get back to Earth because of the distance. Atlantis…is in another galaxy. The city is resting on an ocean on a planet in a galaxy called Pegasus. This galaxy is three million light years away your galaxy.”

Sam’s eyes widened, his lips parted. Cas’s head rose slightly, listening intently to the story.

“You’re saying we travelled three million light years away from Earth? In…what? A couple of seconds?”

Teyla nodded, “That is all it takes when you step through the gate.”

Sam nodded, “Okay? Okay…Um…so you said the expedition had no idea if they could return home. What happened next?”

“When they stepped through the gate, they appeared in a large room. The lights started to come on by themselves, it seemed. They quickly discovered that they had in fact found the lost city of Atlantis. Their mission was to find an energy source so they could regain contact with Earth and also explore the galaxy. When they arrived, the city came alive. It had been lying dormant, unused for so many years…the massive power requirements were too much for the power source to handle. Colonel Sumner, the original military commander, lead a team through the gate to try and find another power source. John was among the team. They travelled to my world, a world called Athos.”

Sam held up a hand to stop her, “Wait…you’re telling me that you’re…an alien?”

Teyla smiled softly at him, “I am human, I assure you, but I am what you call an alien. I am not from Earth, but from this galaxy. As is Ronon. He is from a planet called Sateda.”

Sam looked over at Ronon and knew she was telling the truth. He’d felt something was off with the large man, but hadn’t been able to put a finger on it. Now, he could.

“Okay then. Um…continue, please.”

Teyla nodded and continued with her story. “John, Colonel Sumner, and…a friend of ours, Lieutenant Aiden Ford came into my tent early one morning. They said they were there to trade. Ford seemed uneasy about being there, Colonel Sumner…he was very stiff. He seemed to look right through me, but John…John was different. He is the reason I put my trust in his people. He was genuine. He explained to me their situation and I showed him the old ruins, told him of the Wraith, how they cull, how they feed on humans as livestock. That night…the Wraith came to my world and culled. Many of my people were taken, but many of them escaped with John and his men. I, and Colonel Sumner, were among those who were taken. We were brought to one of the great hive ships. John brought my people back with him to Atlantis to keep them safe. When he arrived, the city was not fairing well. They were preparing to evacuate. What they didn’t realize was that a failsafe was being activated. There was a shield holding the water back from the city. When it could no longer protect the city, it automatically rose to the surface. That is how the city has come to be on the surface of the ocean once again.”

“Wow. That’s pretty intense. You said you and this Sumner guy were captured by these things? How did you escape?”

Teyla smiled, “John convinced Dr. Weir to allow a rescue mission. He took a jumper…a small ship that is able to travel through space, and go to the gate address the Wraith had disappeared to. He found the hive ship and snuck inside. It was landed on a planet, so it was not hard to do. He and Ford planted explosives along their way to find us, a back-up plan in case they needed a diversion. They found us in a cell, but Colonel Sumner had already been taken by the Wraith. John left Ford to get us out while he went in search of the Colonel. He found him being interrogated and fed on by the Wraith. In the end…Colonel Sumner did not survive. We all managed to escape, but…John accidentally awoke the Wraith who were in hibernation. When they awoke…there were too many of them to keep fed. They began culling worlds, killing innocent people. It was not long before John was able to get them to start attacking each other. The Wraith fractioned off into groups, battling each other for food, dominance. They were not only fighting us…they were fighting each other.”

Sam had been following along, but something nagged at him. “You said that the Wraith feed on people. But you also said they were fighting you? Why were they fighting you?”

“Atlantis is a very powerful city. It is seen as a threat to the Wraith. Atlantis is Pegasus’ only hope to be free of the Wraith for good. The Wraith…at first they wanted it destroyed, but now…they know it is they’re only way to Earth, a rich feeding ground that they have been searching for.”

Sam’s eyes widened and Cas’s head snapped up the rest of the way. “You’re saying the Wraith are trying to get to Earth?”

Teyla nodded sadly, “I am afraid so. They managed to get a hive ship there once, but it was destroyed before any Wraith could feed on anyone.”

Cas turned towards Teyla and spoke for the first time during the conversation. “What makes the Ancients unique?”

Sam’s brow furrowed, “What do you mean, Cas? Besides them being highly advanced?”

Cas nodded, “It cannot merely be a matter of them being more advanced. I sense there is more to it than that.”

Teyla nodded, “You are correct. The Ancients possess a certain gene that is different from most humans. They created most of their technology so that only those with the particular gene would be able to use it. There are not many found to have this particular gene in those who have been tested. Although, Dr. Beckett was able to make his own gene therapy and administer it to those who do not have it. It is not effective in everyone, but it did work in some. Dr. McKay was given the gene therapy and now has the gene. John, however, has it naturally. He is the strongest gene carrier on record. That is why he was asked to be a part of the expedition. They found he had the gene more powerful than anyone they had ever seen and asked him to join. Where everyone who has the gene has to concentrate to use it, John comes by it naturally.”

Cas’s eyes widened and he looked up at Sam. Sam noticed the movement and looked over at him. “What is it, Cas?”

Cas turned to Teyla. “You said John came to Atlantis for the first time five years ago?”

Teyla nodded, confused. “Yes, that is correct.”

Cas looked at Sam, realization clear in his eyes. “Sam…do you know what this means?”

Sam glanced at Teyla quickly before looking at Cas. “Um…no? Cas, what’s going on?”

“Do you remember five years ago when Lilith was breaking seals?”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “Of course I remember that. What does that have to do with when John came to Atlantis?”

Ronon stepped forward from where he’d been leaning against the wall. “What the hell is a seal?”

Sam looked up at him. “The seals…are like locks on a door. I don’t know how much you know about Cas or what has been really going on back on Earth, but…there are six hundred possible seals. A demon named Lilith was breaking them in order to raise Lucifer, the devil. When sixty-six of them are broken…Lucifer rises and the end of the world begins.”

Teyla leaned forward. “And this happened on Earth? Lucifer rose?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, he did. We were able to stop him before the world ended though.” He looked back at Cas, waiting for him to continue.

“I was made aware of every single seal that was broken. There was one that I did not understand, but I did not question it. That was when I was still very much loyal to my brothers and not Dean. I was…struggling with who to be loyal to: my brothers or Dean. Balthazar told me of a seal that had been broken…not many knew about it or how it had been broken, so I didn’t question it.”

Sam inched forward, eager to hear more. “What was the seal?”

“When a man not from this world leaves in search of his true home, a seal shall break. I didn’t understand it then, but…I believe that it was John who broke it.”

Carson walked into the infirmary before anyone could say anything. Teyla stood from the stool she’d been occupying for the past two hours. “Carson. Do you have any news?”

He smiled softly at her. “Aye. I just got out of surgery with Dean. He suffered two bullet holes to the chest and massive internal bleeding. He was very lucky. One of the bullets had barely missed his lung where the other barely missed his heart. If either of the organs had been hit, he wouldn’t have survived, I’m sure of that. We were able to remove the bullets and patch up the internal bleeding. He’s not out of the woods yet, but in my professional opinion…he’ll make a full recovery in no time. He will have to remain here for several days so I can keep an eye on him as he heals. I am keeping him sedated for a while, just to make sure he doesn’t get over excited and cause more internal bleeding.”

Sam visibly relaxed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Thank you so much, doctor. When can we see him?”

Carson turned to the tall man he hadn’t met yet. “He’s in recovery right now. My nurses are getting him all cleaned up. He’ll be brought out in a few minutes and you’re welcome to stay with him as long as you take good care of yourself. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Dr. Carson Beckett, one of the Chief Medical Officers here in Atlantis.”

Sam stood and shook Carson’s hand. “Sam Winchester. I’m Dean’s brother. This is Castiel Novak.”

Carson smiled at Cas who remained seated, not exactly up-to-date on Earth customs when it comes to shaking hands. “It was nice meeting you both. Now…the Colonel came in with Dean and I know how worried he was. Where is he?”

Teyla sighed. “Shortly after we arrived, he collapsed. He hadn’t realized that he’d been shot as well. He was too worried about Dean to focus on himself. He lost a significant amount of blood and passed out. Jennifer took him into surgery two hours ago.”

Carson sighed, “Bloody hell, that man. I swear he’s going to give me gray hair one of these days. I’ll go see if I can find anything out for ya, Teyla.”

Teyla smiled softly. “Thank you, Carson.”

He nodded and quickly walked towards the second surgery room. Sam ran a hand through his hair. “I want to know why the angels want Dean killed. Why did they want it so badly that they brought Zachariah back…”

Cad frowned. “I believe it is my fault. John said that it was our relationship that made me betray my brothers. He said that it had ruined everything. The angels are not exactly happy with me for shutting the gates of Heaven.”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, but someone brought Zachariah back. They had to have done it before you slammed the gates otherwise he’d be locked up there with them, right?”

Cas thought about it for a moment. “You are correct. Their power would not extend outside of the gates. They did not know of my intention to shut the gates before I succeeded. Perhaps there was more to it than John said. He was under a considerable amount of stress when we arrived.”

Ronon looked back and forth between Sam and Cas for a moment. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”

Sam looked up at him and decided it was about time they laid everything out on the table since Teyla had explained everything on their side. “This is a pretty long story…”

 

Teyla frowned, looking at Sam. “So…Cas is a fallen angel who was able to shut the gates to Heaven forever. You also managed to shut the gates of Hell. Now your job is pretty much complete on Earth.”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, pretty much.”

Ronon grunted. “You’ve been killing monsters your whole life? And you’ve died? Twice?”

Sam grimaced, “I’ve actually died about four times…that I know of. And I haven’t been fighting them my entire life. It’s only been since I was about twelve when my mom died. A demon killed her so my dad sought revenge. He brought Dean and I along for the ride, taught us how to kill them. He made Dean take care of me. He raised me the rest of the way by himself. Dad kind of disappeared. He died fighting a demon about ten years ago. We’ve been fighting monsters for about nineteen years.”

Teyla nodded, “Since the last time John and Dean saw each other.”

Sam nodded sadly. “Yeah. A week after mom died, we left town. That was the last time the two of them saw each other and it was the beginning of the hunting.”

Cas lifted his head. “But it is over now. There are no more monsters to fight. No more monsters, demons, or angels. The hunting life is over.”

Sam shook his head. “No, it’s not.”

Cas raise a brow. “I do not understand.”

“Cas, Dean’s being hunted. By Zachariah. He’s not going to stop until Dean is dead, we both know that. He was brought back to destroy Dean and as long as Zachariah’s around…he’s going to dedicate his time to tracking him down and killing him.”

Ronon looked at Sam. “Dean’s not on Earth anymore. This Zachariah can’t get to him here.”

Teyla nodded, “Ronon is right. There is no way for Zachariah to find him here unless the SGC bring him here, which is impossible. He is safe.”

Sam ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah…until we have to go back to Earth.”

Ronon sat up, an idea popping into his head. “What if you don’t go back.”

Sam looked up at him, tilting his head slightly. “What do you mean?”

Ronon shrugged. “You could stay here. Shep and Dean are still pretty close, I’m sure he’d love for you guys to stay. Dean would be safe from that angel. If you’re looking for an adventure…you can find that here.”  
Sam thought about it for a moment, considering the possibilities. “I’d have to talk to Dean about it. And John. And we’d have to get permission, which I’m sure would be hard to do. It’d definitely be an adventure though.”

Carson walked back into the room, earning their attention. Carson smiled at Teyla. “The Colonel is going to be just fine. He lost a considerable amount of blood, but they gave him some blood transfusions. He did wonderfully in surgery. They’re taking him into recovery as we speak and he should be out soon.”

Teyla let out a breath she hadn’t been away she’d been holding. “Thank you, Carson. How long will he need to stay here?”

Carson’s smile widened. “Well, knowing how quickly the Colonel is able to bounce back from injuries…I’d say two or three days, possibly four depending. We’ll have to wait and see, but he’ll be out of here in no time.”

Before they could say anything, Dean was wheeled out of recovery finally. Cas stood and went immediately to his side. He grabbed his hand and stared at Dean’s resting face. He looked peaceful.

Sam stood at the end of his bed, watching his big brother. “Thank you again, doctor. For everything.”

Carson smiled softly, “No need to thank me, lad. It’s what I do. Besides, if I hadn’t saved him…I’m sure I would have been shot with the way John was acting.”

Teyla chuckled, coming up to stand next to Carson. He looked at her, turning serious. “So, tell me. Who is Dean Winchester? I’ve never heard of him before.”

Teyla glanced over towards Dean’s resting form before looking back at Carson. “When John was a boy, he and Dean were great friends. They called each other brothers. Dean and Sam’s mother died before their senior year of high school. Soon after, their father left town with them. John and Dean never saw each other or heard from each other again until we found Cas in an alley while in California. We took him to the hospital. Three days later, he awoke and called his family. Dean and Sam showed up and they were reunited after nineteen years.”

Carson’s eyes widened. “Bloody hell, they hadn’t heard from each other in nearly twenty years?”

Teyla nodded sadly, looking back over to Dean. “That is correct. When they were reunited, it was as if they had never been apart. They are very much alike. Besides their looks, I would say they were brothers if I had just met them both.”

Carson looked over at Dean, taking the man in. “I wonder what it’s going to do to the Colonel when they go back to Earth. I’m sure it won’t be easy on him after finally finding him again.”

Before Teyla could mention Ronon’s idea for them to stay on Atlantis, John was wheeled out of recovery followed by Jennifer. She came to stand next to them and smiled softly at Teyla. “I’m sure Carson filled you in on the details of the surgery?”

Teyla nodded, smiling. “Yes, thank you, Jennifer.”

She nodded, “Just doing my job. I’m not really surprised that he didn’t know he’d been shot. Knowing the Colonel…he saw that one of his friends was hurt, possibly dying…he pushed his own well-being to the back of his mind. He’s very self-less like that.”

Teyla nodded, “Indeed. It worries me sometimes, but that is what makes him a good man. He is willing to give up his life for any one of us without hesitation. It speaks greatly of his character.”

“Aye. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s made it through most of what he’s had to go through. Most people wouldn’t have made it this far alive. He’s one lucky man, that’s for damned sure.”

Teyla smiled politely at them. “If you’d excuse me…”

They both nodded, knowing she needed to be at John’s side. She walked over to him, taking a stool with her. She sat down next to him, grabbed his hand, and smiled softly at him. She loved him dearly and was happy that he was going to be okay. It made her smile more at the thought of how self-less he was, how he’d done everything in his power to get Dean to Carson, to a man he trusted explicitly. John never ceased to amaze her and she knew that he never would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any ideas on what Cas is talking about...let me know! ^.^ Also...not entirely sure where the next chapter will be headed. I know that it will involve both men waking up and discussing what happened. It may also involve a destiel moment, probably a sheyla moment, a Jorren moment (John/Torren...I made up the name on the spot. Cute father/son moments are amazing.) and the talk about what Cas was saying about the seal. It will be revealed! ^.^ Any suggestions, anything you'd like to know, let me know!! I'll see what I can do with it. =)


	5. Decisions, Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean has a decision to make. If he makes the right one, John has a lot of work to do.

**Chapter 5**

John sat up in the bed he was currently occupying in the infirmary. He’d been awake for a few hours now and was getting restless. Teyla and Torren had been there with him for a while, but they’d had to leave. Cas was almost a constant at Dean’s side, only leaving when he was forced to by Sam. At the moment, they were both in the mess hall getting some lunch before continuing their post at Dean’s bedside.

John sighed, wondering what he could do to pass the time while he was there. He didn’t have a data pad or anything to occupy his mind and there was no one in sight to start up a conversation with. Just as he was about to get frustrated with his lack of options, Ronon walked through the door and made a beeline for his bed. He sat down on the stool stationed next to the bed and looked at John.

“Hey there, Chewy. You arrived just in time to save me from going insane.”

Ronon smirked. “Shep, I need to talk to you.”

John heard the seriousness in his voice and sat up a little further, giving Ronon his full-undivided attention. “Okay, shoot.”

“Dean needs to stay here.”

John’s brow furrowed. He was at a loss for words. “What?”

“Dean needs to stay here. This is the safest place for him.”

John blinked. “You do realize where we are, don’t you? And what we do for a living?”

“You said this Zachariah guy was brought back to destroy Dean. Sam said it’ll never be over until he finds him and kills him. So, why doesn’t he just stay here? He can’t get to Dean while he’s here. It’s the safest place for him.”

John stared at him for a moment, thinking it through. “That’s a good point. I’d have to talk to Dean about it, but…it makes sense. I don’t know if they IOA would go for it considering none of them are military.”

“They’re basically military though. After everything they’ve done to protect their planet, they’re as good as military. They’re all soldiers.”

John nodded, “I see Sam and Cas filled you guys in on what they’ve had to do.”

Ronon nodded. “From the sounds of it, they’ve saved their planet a few times. The IOA knows about the monsters we fight out here and the ones back in your galaxy. I don’t think it’d be hard to believe there are ones are your planet as well.”

John nodded slowly, letting it all filter through his brain, running through the details. “You’re right. You come up with this plan yourself?”

Ronon shrugged. “Sam said the hunting life would never be over as long as that angel was after Dean, so I figured this was their best option. And he’s your friend. You always do everything you can to protect your friends.”

John’s eyes met Ronon’s. “Yes, I do. I’ll tell you what, buddy, when Dean wakes up I’ll talk to him about it, see what he thinks. I’m sure he’ll have to talk to Cas and Sam about it. If they give me the okay, I’ll talk to Elizabeth. When _she_ gives me the okay, we’ll talk to General O’Neill and the IOA. If Dean wants to stay…I’ll do everything I can to make sure that happens.”

Ronon nodded. “I know.”

**SPN/SGA**

Dean opened his eyes slowly, fighting against the massive headache threatening to rip his skull in half. He found Cas sitting on a stool next to his bed. His head was resting on Dean’s arm, their fingers entwined together. Cas was fast asleep and snoring softly. Dean couldn’t help the small smile that pushed itself to his lips.

He pulled his eyes away from Cas’s sleeping form and looking around to figure out where he was. It didn’t look like any hospital he’d ever seen before. The details of why he’d even be at a hospital were still a little fuzzy. His eyes roamed further to his right and he found someone in the bed next to him. When he turned his head more to see who it was, he was taken aback. John was sitting up in the bed typing away at a data pad with one arm.

“John?”

John’s head snapped up and their eyes connected. A soft smile came to John’s face. “Hey, buddy, good to see you awake.”

Dean nodded, “What the hell happened?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Dean’s brow furrowed and he looked away, wracking his brain for details. “We were at the store getting groceries. We walked out into the parking lot…then someone was behind us.”

John nodded, “It was Zachariah.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Zachariah? Wait, I think I remember that now. We argued, he said he wanted to destroy me?”

John nodded again, “Yep. Then he pointed the gun at me and fired. You pushed me out of the way and got shot in the chest twice. I was barely able to get you here in time.”

“Where exactly is here?”

John smirked. “We’re on Atlantis.”

Dean blinked, looking around the infirmary. “Atlantis. As in…”

“Yep. Pegasus galaxy. I was able to pull a few strings just in time and get you to Dr. Beckett. He said you’re going to be just fine.”

Dean nodded, “How long have I been out?”

“Only a couple of days. Carson wanted to keep you sedated so that you didn’t do anything to cause more internal bleeding.”

Dean looked down at Cas’s sleeping form. “Has he been taking care of himself or just sitting there the whole time.”

John looked over at Cas. “He’s wanted to stay there the whole time, but Sam’s been taking care of him, making him leave to eat, sleep, that sort of thing.”

“Good.” Dean stopped and looked over at John. “Wait, you said I pushed you out of the way. Then why are you here?”

John shrugged with his good shoulder. “I got hit in the shoulder right before you got hit. Nothing I haven’t had before.”

Dean nodded, looking away from him. “So, how long will I be here for?”

“That’s up to you.”

Dean looked back at him, an eyebrow raised. “What?”

John shifted, setting his data pad all the way down and becoming serious. “Ronon came up to me a few hours after I woke up with an idea. He suggested that, if you, Sam, and Cas want to, the three of you stay here. Zachariah said that he was going to hunt you down. Ronon mentioned to me that Sam and Cas were worried about it. They said the hunting life would never be over for any of you as long as Zachariah is after you. Ronon proposed that this is the safest place for you. He won’t be able to get to you here.”

Dean stared at John for a long moment, letting that sink in. “Is that even a possibility?”

John nodded, “I’ve got quite a few cards up my sleeve. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but…if I need to I have some cards I can play. The three of you are practically military. You’ve been defending our planet for most of your lives. When the IOA see that…you’re soldiers. You fight, you make tough decisions, and you make sacrifices. I think you have a damn good chance.”

Dean nodded, turning away and letting his words really sink in. “It probably is our best option…Have you talked to Sam or Cas about it?”

He looked back at John to see him shaking his head. “I thought I’d wait and talk to you first, see what you wanted to do. I didn’t want to get their hopes up of possibly getting you away from that life if you didn’t want to do it.”

Dean nodded, fully understanding. “Okay. Well, I think it’s a good idea. There’s not exactly anything left for us on Earth besides a couple of people, but without us around they’ll be in less danger. Or at least without _me_ around they will be. I’ll talk to Sam and Cas about it later, see what they think.”

John nodded. “Just let me know before you’re released so I can do something before they decide to send you back. It’ll be easier to make their minds up for them than to change their minds.”

Dean nodded absently, thinking about what it would be like to get to see his childhood friend regularly instead of just for a couple of weeks while they’re back on Earth. It could be like old times, except this time…they both had a significant other in their lives and they were grown-ass men who had responsibilities and fought for their lives on basically a daily routine. If this plan worked and they stayed…he could have a second chance with John. He could really get to know the team and his friends, something he really wanted to do. He could even spend some time with the kid. Ever since that case he’d had a few years back where he’d had to care for a baby for a short time…and even since his time with Lisa and Ben…he’d had more of a liking for kids.

He felt Cas beginning to stir on his arm and snapped himself out of his reverie, watching Cas pull himself up into a sitting position, his eyes still mostly closed. Dean couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his throat at the sight of his severely messed up hair. Cas’s head snapped up, his eyes opening all the way as they latched onto Dean’s.

“Dean! You’re awake!”

Dean chuckled again, nodding. “Yeah, been awake for a little bit. Didn’t see any point in waking you. From what I’ve heard, you needed the sleep.” He threw a pointed a look in his direction. Cas had the good grace to look slightly sheepish, but it only lasted a moment.

“Dean, how are you feeling?”

Dean smiled at him softly, reassuring him. “Cas, I’m fine.”

They both heard John chuckle and turned towards him. He looked up when he felt two pairs of eyes on him and grimaced. “Sorry, just thought it was funny. That’s my catchphrase when I’m in the infirmary. I always get crap about it.”

Dean smirked. “John, that’s been your catchphrase for years. Remember when we were climbing that tree and you fell out? Your arm was snapped in half like a twig. When I asked you if you were alright, you said you were fine.”

John snorted, nodding at the memory. “You know what they say about old habits.”

Dean’s smile widened. He turned his attention back to Cas, but before he could say anything, Sam strolled into the infirmary. He stopped in his tracks when he realized that Dean was awake. A smile spread across his features and he increased his stride so he was by the bed in two large steps.

“Dean! No one told me you were awake!”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah, I haven’t been up that long. Don’t worry, you haven’t missed much.”

Sam rolled his eyes and pulled up a stool. “How are you feeling, Dean?”

Dean repressed a sigh. “I’m fine, Sammy, really.”

He heard John chuckle, but ignored it this time. “Did you need something, Sammy, or did you come to gaze upon your handsome big brother?”

Sam rolled his eyes again. “Yeah, you’re definitely feeling like your old self. Actually, I came to talk to Cas…”

Cas turned towards him curiously. “What is it, Sam?”

Sam shifted on the stool, throwing a quick glance in John’s direction. “Well…something you said the other day had me thinking…you didn’t get the chance to explain and I was curious about what you meant.”

Cas nodded, “Okay…What was it that I said that confused you?”

Sam shot another glance over in John’s direction. Dean’s brow came together in confusion, he was starting to get anxious. He pulled himself up into a better sitting position, still resting heavily on the pillows.

“Well…you were talking about the seals…”

Realization flashed in Cas’s eyes and he nodded. Before he got a chance to say anything, Dean jumped into the conversation. “What the hell are you guys talking about? What about the seals?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw John look towards them, curious about the conversation. Sam pursed his lips together and looked over at Cas, silently asking him to explain.

Cas turned towards Dean, turning slightly so that he could also speak to John, knowing he must be curious as well. “Dean, do you remember the seals?”

“Of course I remember the seals, Cas. I was the one who broke the first one.”

Cas nodded, continuing. “There was a seal that Balthazar told me about. At the time, I didn’t know what it was or how it had been broken, but while both of you were in surgery, Teyla told us about Atlantis. Something she said made me think back to the seals until I finally understood what that seal had been.”

Dean’s brow furrowed further. “Okay. Well…what was it?”

Cas looked between the three men before settling his gaze back on Dean. “When a man not from this world leaves in search of his true home, a seal shall break.”

John sat up a little straighter. “This was five years ago, right?”

Cas turned towards him, nodding. “That is correct.”

John nodded, turning away in concentration. Dean watched him for a moment. “What the hell is going on? What does that mean?”

John looked over at him. There was a hint of realization left in his eyes before it faded into something unrecognizable. “I have a strong dose of the Ancient gene, stronger than we’ve been able to find. When I got here…this place became my home. I don’t consider Earth my home anymore. I haven’t for a very long time. So, five years ago when I stepped through the gate and came here for the first time…we were looking for the city…The city that quickly became my home, my _true_ home.”

Dean’s lips parted. “You’re saying that…you were the one who broke that seal?”

John looked at Cas for confirmation. When he saw the nod, he turned back to Dean. “Yeah. Unknowingly, of course, but…same effect.”

Dean’s eyebrows rose. “Huh.”

Sam turned to Dean. “Huh. That’s what you have to say to that?”

Dean shrugged. “What else is there to say? We stopped the apocalypse. We beat Lucifer and shoved him back into his cage. We defeated Michael. Hell, we even got you back, your soul, and then Cas here put you back together again. And _then_ we defeated the next bag of dicks which in turn got Cas put back together. Then we both managed to escape Purgatory. So…I’d say it all worked out in the end, wouldn’t you?”

Sam’s mouth jaw clicked shut. Dean had a good point. Dean looked back over at John. “Welcome to the Unknowingly Breaking Seals Club. It’s nice to have another member.”

John chuckled, shaking his head. “There’s, what, 3 members now?”

Dean nodded, “Yep. You, Sammy, and I. But hey, it was five years ago. It’s ancient history.”

John nodded, turning back to his data pad. Carson walked in, his eyes widening when he saw that Dean was awake. “Did no one think to inform me that one of my patients has awoken?”

John looked up, his face slightly sheepish. “Sorry, Doc. If it helps, he’s only been in the land of the living for a short time.”

Carson rolled his eyes and began checking his vitals. “Dean, my name is Dr. Carson Beckett. I’m the chief medical doctor here on Atlantis. I’m the one who brought you back from the brink of death. How are you feelin’, lad?”

Dean took a small breath. “I’m fine. Bit sore, but I’m fine.”

Carson sighed heavily. “I was warned that you and the Colonel were childhood friends. I see that the two of you have a lot in common.”

John snorted, typing away at his data pad. “You could say that.”

Carson nodded at the readings. “You seem to be doing well within the normal range of someone in yer condition. You’ll have to stay here for a while until you can get back up on yer feet, of course.”

Dean nodded. “I figured you’d say that.”

Carson smiled and turned his attention on the machines hooked up to John. “Okay, Colonel. How about you? How are you feeling?”

John looked up from his data pad with a straight face. “I’m fine, doc, really. Getting a bullet to the shoulder isn’t exactly new.”

“Aye, you’re right. Well, yer vitals look normal. I’d say you can go. I’ll get yer clothes and an extra bandage you can use.”

John’s face lit up. “Really? I can go?”

“Aye. I don’t see a point in keeping you here much longer. If I do, you’ll just try to escape like you usually do.”

John had the good grace to look slightly sheepish. “Sorry.”

“No matter, I’ll radio Teyla and let her know I’m releasing you. You can go when she gets here. And, Colonel, you know I’m not placing you on active duty yet. I want you to rest for another day and then you’ll be on light duty for a few days.”

John sighed, nodding. “I know, doc. Same old routine.”

Carson chuckled as he walked out of the room. John looked over at Dean. “Well, looks like you’ll have some time to discuss things once I leave. Should be pretty soon. Once Teyla finds out I’m being released, she’ll be here in no time.”

Cas turned to Dean. “Discuss what, Dean?”

“We’ll talk about it later, Cas. Sam, you might wanna stick around for it too.”

Sam nodded. “I figured I would unless I wasn’t allowed to.”

Dean rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment. It was only a few minutes later when a nurse brought our John’s clothes and he was allowed to go into the bathroom to change. He stepped out a few minutes later wearing a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that Teyla had brought for when he was released. His arm was in a sling, but other than that he looked perfectly fine. He slipped onto the edge of the bed, his feet dangling over the side. About a minute after he sat down, Teyla walked in the door and smiled at him.

“I’m glad to see you up and moving around, John. I heard that Dr. Beckett is releasing you.”

John smiled at her. “Sure is. He said he’s gonna bring me an extra bandage and then I can go.’

Carson picked that moment to make an appearance. “Ah, Teyla, you got here quickly. I will give this to you. If it starts to bleed, just swap out the bandages. If it bleeds excessively, come back to the infirmary. John, if you have any problems, let me know. I want to see you back here tomorrow to check the stitches.”

John nodded, getting to his feet. “Will do, doc.”

Carson smiled thinly at John before turning and walking away. John turned towards Dean and smiled. “Well, I’ll see you later. Maybe I’ll bring you some dessert or something.”

Dean smiled. “Still remember what I like?”

John rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. Apple pie. It never changes.”

Sam chuckled, “That’s Dean.”

Dean rolled his eyes at Sam, but looked up at John. “I’ll let you know when I can.”

John nodded, his eyes turning serious. “Okay. When you do, I’ll get it going on my end.”

John wrapped his good arm around Teyla and moved them towards the door. Teyla looked up at him curiously. “What was that about, John?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you on the way to pick up TJ.”


	6. Figuring Things Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own SGA or SPN.
> 
> A/N: Sorry for the late update. There's been a lot going on. I hope you like the new chapter. It is shorter than I ever post them...It's missing about 500 words from the amount I strive to post. I like to make chapters a minimum of 2k, but I thought that I should get this chapter to you guys since it's been a while. Thanks for your patience!

**Chapter 6**

John walked into the infirmary after supper to deliver dessert to Dean. He saw that Dean was alone and sat down next to his bed. "Hey, buddy. Brought you some pie."

Dean's face lit up and he sat up as much as he could. John handed him the fork and scooted the tray as close to him as he could. They both sat there in silence for a little bit as Dean dug into the pie with fervor.

"This is some damn good pie."

John chuckled. "Yeah, the mess hall makes some really good food. You should try the meatloaf."

Dean sat back once he was finished with his pie. "So…I talked to Cas and Sam."

John looked up at him, curious. "What did they say?"

Dean thought over his words for a minute. "They agree that it would be in everyone's best interest if we stayed here. When I told them, Sam jumped at the chance to stay here. I guess since we've been here, he's had a chance to check out some of the technology and he's reverted into his nerdy-ness. Cas…when he realized Zachariah wouldn't be able to get to me anymore, that was all he needed to hear."

John nodded, "So…should I go talk to Elizabeth?"

Dean looked up at John and slowly started to nod. "Yeah. Now let's hope they go for it."

John huffed. "Here's hoping."

**SGA/SPN**

John pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not that risky. They're basically military. They've been defending Earth for most of their lives. Cas is a damn angel, for crying out loud. I don't see what the big deal is."

Elizabeth tilted her head slightly. "I'm not the one with the problem with it, Colonel. I'm simply telling you how the IOA will look at it. I don't know these men, but if you can vouch for them, then that's good enough for me. I don't know what they've been through. I don't know what kinds of things they've had to do. If you think that it would be in everyone's best interest if they stayed here…than my ears are open. I hope you realize you will not only have to explain why it would be in Dean's best interest, but in ours as well."

John nodded. "I thought of that. Dean, Sam and Cas are warriors. Cas has been a fighter for thousands of years. He's an angel, or was an angel. He knows how to fight. Dean and Sam have been fighting monsters and demons since they were kids. They've been doing this the majority of their lives. They've lost almost everyone in their lives because of these monsters. There's nothing for them to go back to. Here, they can help us with our fight against the Wraith. We won't have to teach them how to fight or shoot weapons. They already know. We will have to teach them the rules and protocols, but that'll be a cinch."

Elizabeth nodded. "Well, I'm sold. If they are willing, we need every capable person to help. I'll go with you to debrief the IOA and try to convince them. I'll dial the SGC and schedule a meeting. In the meantime, I'll try to get to know them a little better. Maybe that will help our case."

John smiled at her. "Thanks, 'Lizabeth. It means a lot."

She smiled and nodded. "I know. Now why don't you go spend some time with TJ. I'm sure you both could benefit from some quality time together."

John nodded, coming to his feet. "I'm sure you're right. I'll let Dean and the others know that you're on board and that we'll get the ball rolling as soon as we can. I'm hoping we can meet with the IOA before Dean is released from the infirmary. That way they don't ship them home before we can convince them to let them stay."

"I agree. Otherwise they'll make the excuse that they're already back on Earth, they may as well stay."

"Exactly. Well, I'll leave you to it. Have a good night."

"And you. Say hi to TJ for me."

He smiled at her as he walked out of her office, on his way to pick up his son.

It had been a while since he'd gotten to really spend a lot of time with his son. Between work, missions, and injuries there just wasn't enough time in a day. He knew he needed to set aside more time. He wanted to desperately. His son was everything to him.

TJ was being watched by one of the off-duty marines. The soldiers under his command loved TJ as if he were their family. TJ had tons of aunts and uncles looking out for him constantly. It was really nice to not have to worry about how his son was doing when he and Teyla were both off-world. Since she was still on his team, they would have to leave Torren behind when they went on missions. He would always stay with one of the off-duty soldiers while they were gone. They basically had a signup sheet for who would get to watch Torren when his parents couldn't. It warmed John's heart to know that so many people cared for his son as much as he did.

He stopped in front of the quarters of Lieutenant Hanna Goodman. He ran his hand over the chime and waited a minute before the doors slid open. Hanna stood there with a crying Torren in her arms. "Colonel! Thank goodness…He will not stop crying and asking for you. I didn't know what to do…"

He smiled at TJ and reached his arms out for him. "Hey, buddy. You miss me?"

TJ realized that his dad was there and he instantly stopped crying. "Da!"

His arms flew out towards his Dad, trying to get to him. John's smile widened. "Come here, buddy."

Lieutenant Goodman handed TJ over, smiling as Torren finally seemed to calm down. "You showed up just in time, Colonel. He's not usually like that."

John nodded. "We haven't exactly gotten a whole lot of time together lately. It's been pretty hectic."

"I understand, sir."

John nodded at her as he started to turn away. "Thanks for watching him today, Lieutenant. When's your next 'shift'?"

She chuckled, "Not until next week, I'm afraid. I have a mission tomorrow and I'll be gone for a few days."

John nodded, backing away. "Be careful out there. Lorne's team is off-world and mine is down for a few days still, so I don't know who we'd send to your rescue."

Goodman smiled. "Yes, sir. We always are."

They said their goodbyes as John walked away to go spend some quality time with his son. Since he still needed to let Dean and the others in on their plan, he headed towards the infirmary. TJ was clinging to his neck and playing with the chain that held his dog tags.

He walked into the infirmary and found all three of the men he'd been looking for sitting together talking and laughing. Dean looked up and noticed him. "John! How'd it go with Dr. Weir?"

Sam and Cas turned to look at him, anxiety evident in their postures. "Better than I figured. It wasn't very hard to get her in on the plan."

Sam looked slightly relieved. "So, then what's the next step?"

John sighed. "Well, 'Lizabeth's arranging a meeting with the IOA. We're hoping to have it set before you get released. 'Lizabeth and I will go to the meeting, propose the plan, tell them why it would not only be in your best interest but ours as well…and hope for the best. If I need to, I do have a few cards I can play to try and gain the upper hand. Being the CMO out here has its perks sometimes."

Dean chuckled. "I'm sure it does. Thanks again for doing this, John. It means a lot to all of us."

John shift uncomfortably, knowing Dean was just as uncomfortable as he was. "It's no problem, really. It'd be nice having you out here. It's been a long time since we've seen each other, so it'd be nice to hang out again."

Dean nodded, "I agree. I can offer my babysitting services too."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You don't even like kids, Dean."

Dean frowned. "Yes, I do. We've had cases with kids before. And…you know…there was Ben."

Sam instantly felt like he'd put his foot in his mouth. He regretted saying it. He knew how much Ben had meant to Dean in the year that he spent raising the kid and then all the time afterwards when he was away from him. He knew it'd been torture for him to erase Lisa and Ben's memories of him.

John cleared his throat, sensing the awkwardness that had descended on the group. "Well, I'm going to get going. I planned on surprising Teyla with supper tonight, so I should probably get on that. I also need to start coming up with what I'm going to say to the IOA."

Sam stood and shook John's hand. "Thanks again, John, for everything. This place is great. I'm really hoping we get the chance to stay here a bit longer."

John nodded, looking around at all three of them. "I hope so too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time.


End file.
